John Ogilby Oxford to Salisbury Road Map #83 Circa 1675

John Ogilby (Scottish, 1600-1676). – Circa 1675

This map is part of his Britannica publication and is #83.

“The road map was first popularised by John Ogilby (1600-1676), Scotsman, dancing master (until his accident), Deputy Master of the Revels, publisher, and cartographer, who published his Britannia in 1675. This showed all the main routes radiating from London, together with a handful of cross-country routes (e.g. York to Lancaster, Carlisle to Tynemouth, Oxford to Cambridge). Like the old Automobile Association personalized route-maps, they are strip maps which concentrate on the roads, orienting the traveller with a compass rose, and showing side roads, landmarks, and the type of terrain, hills to be surmounted and rivers to be crossed. The scale was a standard inch-to-a-mile.”