Britannia: Or a Chorographical Description description of the flourishing kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland, and the islands adjacent; from the earliest antiquity. By William Camden. Translated from the edition published by the author in MDCVII. Enlarged by

London: John Nichols, for T. Payne and Son, and G.G. J. and J. Robinson, 1789. First edition of expanded Richard Gough translation. Three folio volumes (16 3/4 x 10 3/8 inches; 426 x 262 mm). viii, [2], xxii, [4], viii, cxlix, [1, blank], 351, [1, blank], [38]; [6], 598, [42]; [6], 760, [54] pp. With frontispiece portrait and 154 engraved plates and maps. Of these, 98 are engraved plates of which 6 are double page and 2 are folding (including the large folding "Pedigree of Oliver Cromwell") and 56 are engraved maps, of which 42 are folding. Other additional engraved illustrations within the text.

Contemporary full tree calf, with pieces of original spines laid down on each volume. Spines with original morocco spine labels, lettered in gilt. Spines stamped in gilt. Newer endpapers. Inner hinges reinforced. Spine label for volume III partially missing. A fair amount of foxing and toning throughout. the first few leaves of volumes II and III with some marginal repairs. Some dampstaining throughout, particularly to volume III. Two previous owner's bookplates on the front paste-down of each volume. Overall a very god set.

Camden's famous work took nearly ten years to complete and was first published in London with Latin text in 1586. It was an instant success and numerous other Latin editions followed, with the first English edition translated by Holland in 1610.

"William Camden has some claim to be considered as the founder, not merely of antiquarian studies, but also of the study of modern history. His name was distinguished in his lifetime, and his work enjoyed a long popularity after his death. It is, however, as the founder of the chair of history at Oxford, still known as the Camden professorship, and the first at any university in the country, that his name is preserved today... If Camden was not the first English historian (in the modern sense of the word), topographer and antiquarian, he was certainly the first to relate the three studies. The long tradition of accurate and co-ordinated antiquarian study in Great Britain is almost entirely due to Camden". (PMM).

HBS 65968.

$3,500.