London, A. and J. Churchil, 1701.
Folio. Contemp. full calf, 5 raised bands, Blindtooled covers, Cambridge-binding style. Rebacked, preserving most of original spine. Front free endpapers renewed. Engraved frontispiece (M. Vander Gucht Sculp.). Printed title in red a. black. (6),4,(28),26,444 - (2),230,(28) pp. One folio (signature N) outside pagenumbering: "The World in Planisphere". Some textengravings, some wood-engravings in the text. With all 43 engraved maps interspersed in the text. A bit of corner of one leaf (pp.313-14) gone affecting a small part of the frame on the last map (Chili, Magellans-Land). Printed on good paper, a few scattered brownspots, mainly in first part. Some browning to two leaves in the first index (signature e,1-2).
First edition. The work is, in effect, an enlarged edition of the "Thesaurus geographicus" (1695) omitting all except one of the small town plans but with additional maps marked as "New""(Shirley T.MOLL-1b, where the worldmap is missing).
In 1701 he published A System of Geography, the first of his own publishing. Although it contained no fundamental changes in the presentation of his previous work, it helped him to assert himself as a freelance cartographer. Over the years, the work itself as well as individual maps were of influence on other publishers, as they were frequently copied and re-issued.
Order-nr.: 51685