THE SHYRE OF KENT, DIUIDED INTO THE FIVE LATHES THEREOF WITH THE ROADS.

Oblong map within decorative border. 14.75 x 9 inches (13.5 x 7 within borders). Upper right, crown, garter and coat of arms of Queen Elizabeth; dividers surmounting scale bar, Scala Miliarium 1-10. Borders contain a banded leaf pattern within double inner and outer lines, with the four cardinal points in Latin. Kent is engraved across the map, the sea stippled with coastal shading and flow lines along the Thames. Map has former fold lines. Lower right hand margin with decorative border is missing, but not affecting text; otherwise a fine copy. This is the earliest surviving printed map of Kent, and if shown to date from 1570, the earliest of any English county. It is also the first to show the ancient five lathes of the county. The attribution is unclear, but it may be the 'Chart of the Shire,' referred to by William Lambarde in the first edition of his Perambulation of Kent.' 1576. However, a map of Kent had already been cited by Lambarde in his manuscript of the Perambulation, 1570 and it is suggested that this may be identical to the 1576 map. Taylor's Tudor Geography considers the map may be the work of the engraver, Nicholas Reynolds. The first map of Kent, which can be dated with certainty is that of Christopher Saxton, but issued as part of a larger map, including Surrey, Sussex and Middlesex. in 1575. This version appears to be the third state, as quoted by Burgess, which includes the main roads and is dated by him to c. 1720-30. KENT MAPS KENT - MAPS- TOPOGRAPHY 16TH CENTURY KENT Burgess, Printed Maps of Kent web site, 2/ iii. Livett, Arch. Cant., 1938 and numerous other references.…