A General Atlas of Ancient and Modern Geography

Description:

First published in 1822. This copy is undated, but a contemporary owner's inscription dated 1837 is pasted to front endpaper. An advertisement on page 63 of 'The Literary Gazette and Journal of the Belles Lettres, Arts, Sciences, &c.' No. 1042, for Jan. 7th, 1837, also states, 'The author begs to observe that in the present editions he has added Maps of the West Indies and Australia to the Modern, and of Mauritania, Numidia, & Africa Propria, to the Ancient Atlas; and that he has had several of the Maps redrawn and re-engraved, especially those of Greece and Italy, on a larger scale, and one of Italy also added, without any increase of price'. The additional plates mentioned are present in this copy. 'Antient Atlas' with 22 plates, 'Modern Atlas' with 23 plates, drawn and engraved by Sydney Hall, all but one hand-coloured in outline. Sydney Hall (1788-1831) was a British engraver and cartographer, well-known for his maps reproduced in early nineteenth century atlases.

Samuel Butler (1774-1839) was an English classical scholar and headmaster of Shrewsbury school, and Bishop of Lichfield. Among his notable pupils at Shrewsbury was Charles Darwin, who later wrote of his time there in his autobiography, 'Nothing could have been worse for the development of my mind than Dr. Butler’s school, as it was strictly classical, nothing else being taught, except a little ancient geography and history. The school as a means of education to me was simply a blank … Much attention was paid to learning by heart the lessons of the previous day; this I could effect with great facility, learning forty or fifty lines of Virgil or Homer whilst I was in morning chapel; but this exercise was utterly useless, for every verse was forgotten in forty-eight hours'.

Condition

4to, orig. half leather, sympathetically rebacked, preserving orig. title piece, orig. marbled paper covered boards, rubbed, scuffed and a little soiled, some wear to corners, orig. printed paper title label to front board. Some marginal soiling. Publisher's advert for 'Dr Butler's Classical Geography, Atlases, &c.' pasted to rear endpaper. Vg.