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Description

Fine Plan of London By One of The Most Famous English Mapmakers of the 18th Century.

Decorative and highly detailed map of London, published by John Senex and engraved by Samuel Parker.

This is an excellent parish by parish, block by block map of London that was built after the Great Fire of 1666. The map includes an index that locates 87 parishes in London and Westminster, and eight in Southwark. Many parishes had new churches built between the years 1670 and 1711 are shown, 52 of which were designed and executed by Christopher Wren.

The attractive cartouche includes symbols of London's greatness: two cornucopias, one of fruit and one of precious metal objects and jewels. At the base is a picture of a king, presumably George II, whose sword and scepter are supported by two dragons. To the sides and behind these are symbols of British cultural and mercantile superiority.

The map is dedicated to Sir Peter Delme, a very wealthy and powerful gentleman, one of the first residents of Grosvenor Square, and, for a time, Lord Mayor.

John Senex Biography

John Senex (1678-1740) was one of the foremost mapmakers in England in the early eighteenth century. He was also a surveyor, globemaker, and geographer. As a young man, he was apprenticed to Robert Clavell, a bookseller. He worked with several mapmakers over the course of his career, including Jeremiah Seller and Charles Price. In 1728, Senex was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society, a rarity for mapmakers. The Fellowship reflects his career-long association as engraver to the Society and publisher of maps by Edmund Halley, among other luminaries. He is best known for his English Atlas (1714), which remained in print until the 1760s. After his death in 1740 his widow, Mary, carried on the business until 1755. Thereafter, his stock was acquired by William Herbert and Robert Sayer (maps) and James Ferguson (globes).