Raremaps, Chalfont St Giles (2026)

19/10/2026

Two hundred and forty-five years ago today General Cornwallis surrendered his British forces at Yorktown. So ended the American Revolution. A handful of contemporary plans of the battle were published. This is an example of that by William Faden. It is sometimes referred to as the Hills plan as it is taken from ‘an actual survey in the possession of Jno. Hills, late lieutt. in the 23d. Regt. & asst. engr.’ It displays the positions of the various forces and fleets along with houses, roads, and lines of fire. For further details please visit our website.

19/10/2026

The city of Basel had suffered badly in the middle of the fourteenth century from one disaster after another. First there had been a plague of grasshoppers which destroyed the harvest in 1338. In the summer of 1342, severe flooding reduced the harvest again. Then between 1345 and 1347 severe weather, it is thought caused by volcanic eruptions, reduced harvests again. The large importation of grain that ensued brought with it the Black Death which between 1347 and 1351 killed an estimated 25 million people, roughly one third of Europe’s entire population. In 1354 a disastrous fire had destroyed portions of the northern part of Basel.

Then on this day in 1356 the city of Basel was waking up to the aftermath of yet another disaster. The previous evening, it had been struck by the most significant earthquake known in central Europe's recorded history. At an estimated magnitude of 6.6, it was felt up to 200 kilometres away. This fine birds-eye plan and view of the city was published in 1575 by Georg Braun and Frans Hogenberg. For further details please visit https://www.caburdenraremaps.com/map/basilea-2/

14/10/2026

On this day 960 years ago one of the most momentous moments in English history took place – the Battle of Hasting. It was fought between the Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godwinson and the invading forces of William, Duke of Normandy. Commencing at dawn William marched toward the high ground occupied by Harold. The battle lasted for hours and according to the Bayeux Tapestry in the late afternoon Harold was struck in the eye by an arrow. Despite his death, the king’s forces battled on until dusk before scattering in darkness. The decisive battle was fought on a ridge about 10 miles northwest of Hastings on the Sussex coast. Around 1070 William commissioned an abbey to be built with its high altar deliberately placed on the spot where Harold Godwinson was believed to have fallen. Here we offer a remarkably important large-scale map of the county by Thomas Gream surveyed by William Gardner and Thomas Yeakell. It was instigated by the Duke of Richmond and would become one of the significant precursors to the Ordnance Survey founded by the duke. Published in 1795, it won a Society of Arts Gold Medal in the following year. Have a look at our website where if you enlarge the image you can search for the Abbey which is marked on the ridge. https://www.caburdenraremaps.com/map/a-topographical-map-for-the-county-of-sussex-3/ Antique Map Collectors

13/10/2026

We offer here an extremely rare and desirable folio atlas begun by Thomas Dix (1770-1813) which was completed with the help of William Darton. Dix died young in 1813 having lost all five of his children before the age of two. Each of the maps bears the addition of a beautifully engraved vignette view. Each was published separately during production from 1816 until the ‘Complete Atlas of the English Counties’ could be published in 1822. Only three examples have appeared on the market in 20 years. For further details please visit our website and search for item number 9671.

07/10/2026

We offer a fascinating depiction of the city of London in two panoramas, one before and one after the Great Fire of London in 1666. That showing after clearly records the level of devastation caused. The fire lasted 4 days and consumed 436 acres, 13,200 houses, and 87 churches including St. Paul’s Cathedral. Contemporary accounts relate that only church spires and chimney stacks seem to have survived. John Evelyn (1620-1706) wrote in his diary on this day 360 years ago, the day after the fire ended, that he had walked through the city and reported his hair almost singed:

‘I went this morning on foote from White hall as far as London bridge … with extraordinary difficulty, clambring over mountaines of yet smoking rubbish, & frequently mistaking where I was, the ground under my feete so hott, as made me not onely Sweate, but even burnt the soles of my shoes’.

We offer this print engraved by the highly respected Wenceslaus Hollar and was available within just a couple of months. Samuel Pepys (1633-1703) records in his diary for 22 November 1666:

‘my Lord Bruncker did show me Hollar’s new print of the City, with a pretty representation of that part which is burnt, very fine indeed’. Please visit our website for further details.

02/10/2026

On this day 190 years ago the ‘Beagle’ returned to Falmouth, Cornwall, following an epic five-year voyage. Amongst its cargo was one Charles Darwin. Darwin himself wrote ‘The voyage of the ‘Beagle’ has been by far the most important event in my life and has determined my whole career’. The ‘Beagle’ had left Plymouth in December 1831 with a compliment of 75 people on a vessel just 27.5 metres long (90 feet)! Offered here is the official account of the voyage of the Beagle. The third volume is by Darwin himself and is his first published work. He wrote of it in his autobiography ‘The success of this my first literary child tickles my vanity more than that of any of my other books.’ It is ‘one of the most interesting records of natural history exploration ever written and is one of the most important, for it was on this voyage that Darwin prepared for his lifework, ultimately leading to 'The Origin of Species’'. For further details please visit our website and enter the stock number 11092.

28/09/2026

A momentous day in English history. On this day 960 years ago William II of Normandy landed at Pevensey to claim the throne he believed had been promised him following the death of his cousin Edward the Confessor earlier in the year. The throne had been claimed by Harold Godwinson. Two weeks later at the Battle of Hastings King Harold died and the course of English history irrevocably changed. Here we offer this magnificent original coloured sea chart of the southeast coast of England is highlighted in gold. It too celebrates a king who originated abroad: William of Orange or William III. It was produced by the renowned artist Romain de Hooghe and is considered one of the heights of cartography. It was published in Amsterdam in 1693. For further details please visit our website

25/09/2026

Few world maps could claim to be in a more magnificent setting than this. It is found in the Sala del Mappamondo at the Palazzo Farnese in Caprarola, Italy, north of Rome. They were painted by the artist Giovanni Antonio da Varese between 1573 and 1575. The world map is flanked by others of America and Europe. Elsewhere in the room are Asia and Africa along with portraits of famous explorers. A magnificent room.

22/09/2026

In September 1611 Sir Thomas Dale, the then Governor of Virginia, travelled up the James River with 350 men and founded the town of Henrico. He named it in honour of Henry Prince of Wales, who would die suddenly in 1613. Jamestown had been founded only four years earlier, but its swampy ground had proved unhealthy. With rigorous military control Dale is, however, credited with bringing stability to a remarkably shaky start for the English colony.

This extremely rare map appeared it is believed, in a German work entitled ‘Relations Historicae’ published in 1612. Although no surviving example contains it. The were a series of annuals that highlighted important discoveries and events of the year. The top half depicts four settlements in Virginia at the time. The first settlement of Iacque Ville, most probably representing Jamestown, and two fortifications to the east, most probably representing those built by Lord Delaware and named Fort Henry and Fort Charles. Upriver the more recently settled Henrico. The lower half of the image illustrates an Arctic scene related to Nova Zembla. For further details please visit https://www.caburdenraremaps.com/map/virginiae-pars/

19/09/2026

Some of you might be familiar with this fabulous view from the Royal Observatory at Greenwich I took the other day. Also, with the nearby strip of metal in the ground marking the divide between the eastern and western hemispheres at zero degrees longitude. This was based on Sir George Airy’s observations in 1851 which became accepted worldwide in 1884. People are fond of standing over the line with one foot in each hemisphere. What they might not know is that this is not the point of zero longitude. It is actually about 100 metres to the east. Scientists use geocentric measurements today which means it is locked to the centre of the earth’s mass. Airy used local direction of gravity utilising plumb lines and mercury pools. Because the earth is an irregular shape, the direction of ‘straight down’ does not point to the same place. Another reason for the scientific method is that it does not rely on earthbound observatories which of course sit on tectonic plates and move over time. Indeed, Greenwich is moving approximately 2.5 cms (1 inch) to the northeast every year. So since Airy first undertook his calculations, the Observatory has moved about 4.37 metres! Below is a portion of the same view recorded by Wenceslaus Hollar in 1637. The future National Maritime Museum sits at the bottom of the hill and on the left is a lodge which would be the site of the Royal Observatory. What a difference! For further details on Hollar’s panorama please visit https://www.caburdenraremaps.com/map/graenwich/

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