Saxton’s map of Durham as revised by Philip Lea

The first printed map of Durham, engraved by Augustus Ryther in 1576, but this example from Lea's re-issue, a hundred and twenty years later. Over the years a number of changes had been made to the plate: the original title was replaced by an English title c.1642, then replaced by the plan of Durham c.1665, with the new title replacing Seckford's arms in the North Sea; the arms of Elizabeth I were replaced by those of Charles I. For this edition Lea has added Ogilby's Roads and changed the title for the second time. In the scale Ryther's name and the date of engraving remain unchanged. Still this was not the end of the Saxton plates: they were issued again by George Willdey, Thomas Jefferys and Cluer Dicey into the 1770s. Despite the number of editions all Saxton's maps are uncommon.