William Camden, Britannia: or a Choriographical Description of Great Britain and Ireland, together with the Adjacent Lands Written in Latin by William Camden and translated into English with additions and improvements by Edmund Gibson, 2 vols (London, 1722).
William Camden (1551 – 1623)
Image 1: William Camden, Britannia: or a Choriographical Description of Great Britain and Ireland, together with the Adjacent Lands Written in Latin by William Camden and translated into English with additions and improvements by Edmund Gibson, 2 vols (London, 1722), i, frontispiece portrait of William Camden.
William Camden (1551 – 1623) was born in London and died on 9 November 1623 aged 73 years old. When he was 12, he contracted the bubonic plague and recovered in Islington; after his recovery he attended Paul’s School where he learned Latin and Greek.[1]
Camden originally attended Magdalen College in Oxford as a chorister, but due to some political upheaval within the university’s staff, he moved to Christ Church where he developed a budding interest in antiquities. In 1570 he petitioned for his bachelor’s degree after having studied for four years; but due to the religious infighting at Oxford, he was unsuccessful. The following year he left the university but, given the importance of a degree for his future career, he applied again in 1574, and this time the degree was conferred upon him.[2]
Image 2: William Camden, Britannia, 2 vols (London, 1722), i, title page of Britannia.
Camden later became minister of Westminster School, which provided him with newfound security that would later allow him to create Britannia. He had a new ‘approach to empirical research into topographical and historical study through travel, archival scholarship, and the use of original documents, along with the deployment of linguistic and philological evidence and artifacts for interpreting historical and cultural events’ which he applied to Britannia, and during breaks he was able to travel; he traveled to Italy to study Roman history with Italian historians.[3] Camden did not know Italian and struggled to communicate with his fellow historians and was allegedly ‘jealous’ that he couldn’t read their own research on Rome.[4]
Camden began writing Britannia in 1577 and it was printed in 1586, with five Latin editions appearing in 1587, 1590, 1594, 1600, and 1607.[5] The original 1586 edition was dedicated to Lord Burghley (1520–98).[6] The 1607 edition was dedicated as a ‘new-years gift’ to King James (1566-1625) to whom he ‘promised a Description of Britain, as under the Romans; a Survey and History of each County, in sixty Books, a Survey of the British Isles, in six Books; and a work concerning the Nobility of Britain, in three Books’.[7]
Image 3: William Camden, Britannia, 2 vols (London, 1722), i, after Col. XLVII – XLVIII, map of Britannia: This map depicts England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland.
Britannia is considered a cultural icon, and deeply affected the nation’s self-image during the early modern period. Camden placed a great emphasis on primary materials and material culture, which differed greatly from the ‘rhetorical historical writing’ that defined the Middle Ages and early Renaissance.[8] He knew that his own views could and would be criticized, which is why he instead used eyewitness testimonies when available, and attempted to avoid using fictional speeches – a rhetorical device which many of his contemporaries tended to rely heavily on.[9] In this way, Britannia contributed to an advancement of the study of antiquities at the time.
In 1593, Camden became headmaster at Westminster School, in which he took great pride. He was headmaster for four years, but even after his tenure he was still known to give money to the school for improvements. In 1597, he became so ill that he nearly died; luckily, Cuthbert Lane (a friend of his), had a capable wife who was able to ‘cure’ him. It seems that after this illness he would frequently find himself intermittently severely ill for the rest of his life.[10]
Camden’s next large publication after Britannia was Annales rerum Anglicarum et Hibernicarum regnante Elizabetha (London, 1615), also known in English as History of Elizabeth, a biography on Queen Elizabeth (1533–1603) – the Edward Worth library has a 1717 copy of this book published at Oxford. Queen Elizabeth’s reign had a large impact on many aspects of his life, and Camden found himself inundated with requests to finish the biography. He felt that he was unable to speak candidly, as James I would naturally be interested in how his mother Mary, Queen of Scots (1542 – 87) was treated within the work. The first three books in the collection were published in 1615 as Camden was afraid a ‘pirated’ version would be printed if he did not finish them in time. He published the rest of the collection in 1617.[11]
In 1619 his bouts of illness continued to get worse, until his death in 1623. His funeral was an affair above a man of his rank, which proved how much he was admired and respected; it was compared to a funeral for a member of royalty. Camden is still a well-respected historian to this day, as his pioneering work in material culture and primary sources benefits historians today.[12]
Exploring Britannia
The book itself contains ‘further readings’ on each county as well as Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and the islands of Britain (ie; the Isle of Man). Parts of some sections have been kept in their original Latin with additional English translations underneath them. Some counties have much longer sections on them; it sometimes is dependent upon the size of the county itself, but sometimes has to do with the history of the area (and, of course, with the sources available to Camden).
Due to Camden’s interest in antiquities, much of the beginning of the chronography is about the Romans in Britain, discussing their attempted conquest, some settlements, and the fights between the Roman legionaries and the Britons.
Image 4: Camden, Britannia, 2 vols (London, 1722), i, plate after Col. CXV – CXVI, British Coins.
Camden was particularly interested in coinage and offers the reader illustrations of a number of unusual coins. Before Roman occupation, ancient Britons used brass money, rings, or plates of iron by weight. Camden’s contemporary antiquarians had also found coins made of gold and silver, and states that some coins had words engraved on them, while others simply showed figures or animals. After Caesar, they adopted the use of Roman coins. Camden attempts to explain the people and lettering engraved in each coin. For example, the coin labeled 6 is described as, ‘the sixth seems to be Visor, the letters now not visible : or it might be an ill-made in intimidation of Commodus, who is usually set forth with his head wrap’d in a Lion’s skin, feigning himself to be Hercules’.[13]
Image 5: Camden, Britannia, 2 vols (London, 1722), i, facing Col. CX, British Coins.
These coins were minted in Britain during Roman rule. Camden notes that many of them were adorned with pearls. They still tended to depict Roman rulers at the time. Camden describes the first coin in the following manner: ‘the first is Cunobeline’s, who flourish’d under Augustus and Tiberius; which upon (if I mistake not) are engraven the head of Janus, possibly, because at that time Britain began to be a little refined from its barbarity. For Janus is said to have first chang’d barbarity into humanity; and for that reason, to be painted with two faces, as having in effect chang’d the same visage into another form’.[14]
Image 6: Camden, Britannia, 2 vols (London, 1722), i, facing Col. CXIX, Roman Coins.
These Roman minted coins are in significantly better shape than the first set. Camden notes that the coins contain abbreviated inscriptions, for example: ‘TI. CLAVD. CAES. AVG. P.M. TR. P. VIIII. IMP. XVI. ie, Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus, Pontifex Maximus, Tribunitia potestate 9. Imperator 16’.[15] Camden then notes what the titles mean, such as explaining how Caesar Augustus became a title, as well as Pontifex Maximus meaning High-Priest. He of course continues to explain and translate what is found on the coin; for example, ‘the seventh (which is Commodus’s) only shows that upon account of a victory over the Britains, he took the name of Britannicus : for on the reverse, we see Victory with the branch of a Palm-tree, holding a shield, and leaning upon the shields of the conquer’d Britains, with the Inscription, VICTORIA BRITANNICA’.[16]
Image 7: Camden, Britannia, 2 vols (London, 1722), i, facing Col. CXXIII, Roman Coins.
Camden was keen to provide as much background as possible. For example, his discussion of the above coins declared that ‘the thirty-second. I had here placed Bonosus, a Britain, son of a Rhetorician, a very valiant warlike man, and the greatest drinker of his age. He commanded Rheotia (the Grisons country) and the confines of the Roman Empire towards the Germans : and having lost the fleet upon the Rhine which was left in his charge, for fear of punishment he rebelled, and declared himself Augustus. Probus, after a great battle, took and hanged the Upsuper. In his stead therefore I have taken the Coin of Aemilianus, being very rare ; because I could not find, either in metal or writing, any one of Bonosus’.[17]
Camden then discusses the original peoples of Britain such as the Britons, the Saxons, the Danes, and the Normans. He explains how Saxon naming conventions worked and how those have led to the names of places in Britain in contemporary times. He also devotes a few pages to contrasting the coins of the Romans with those of the Saxons, illustrating his comments. As might be expected, he uses Roman sources above all (which perhaps affects his analysis). In all he devotes 267 pages to these topics.
The rest of volume I is devoted to an in-depth study of all the counties of Britain, which are sorted by the tribes that originally lived there (ie; the Danmonii lived in Cornwall and Devonshire, the Belgae in Somersetshire, Wiltshire, Hampshire, and the Isle of Wight etc.).
Camden begins each county with a history of where its name came from (usually in relation to the Saxons), and gives a brief history of the area (once again based on Roman sources), which varies in length depending on how much information he finds.
Image 8: Camden, Britannia, 2 vols (London, 1722), i, Column 121-122, Stonehenge.
This is a depiction of Stonehenge in Wiltshire. Camden expresses disappointment that he was unable to track who made this monument as well as how they managed to create the monument at all. Some of his contemporaries believed that the stones were not natural nor were they dug out of local quarries, but rather that they are made of artificial cement. Camden states that this could be a possibility as Pliny describes cement in his own writings; however, he follows that short commentary with a note that people who have seen Stonehenge in person have all stated that it is clearly constructed of real, natural stone. He shares a note on the mythic origins of Stonehenge: ‘the Tradition is, that Ambrosius Aurelianus, or Uther his brother, erected it by the help of Merlin the Mathematician, in memory of the Britains slain by treachery, in a conference with the Saxons’.[18] Camden also offers other theories as to why and by whom the monument was built. In the end, he states he believes it was built by the Britons before anyone else had entered the land.
Camden then describes the topography of various sections of the county, naming rivers and hills. If there was an ancient settlement or structure that was still standing, he also describes that.
Image 9: Camden, Britannia, 2 vols (London, 1722), i, Col. 295-296, an illustration of a circular rock formation in Oxfordshire.
A structure similar to Stonehenge is found in Oxfordshire; Camden states it is unclear what the purpose of this monument is based on the inscriptions found on the stone. He is not sure if it is Christian or Pagan as there is no cross to signal its relation to Christianity, but there is nothing that makes it obviously pagan either. He offers his own explanation, which is that it is a monument raised in commemoration of some victory – perhaps Rollo the Dane, for example.[19]
He describes any person of importance born in that county as well as mentioning various earls or other titles that he deems relevant. Sometimes the history jumps back and forth between antiquity and contemporary times. He lists flora native to the area. These are listed by their contemporary scientific name with a short description of the plant at the end of the section, although he sometimes mentioned them in the main text before listing them at the end.
Image 10: Camden, Britannia, 2 vols (London, 1722), ii, Column 833 – 834, ‘An Index of Curiosities’.
This illustration, found in volume two, exhibits various artifacts found in Wales. Many are of Roman origin. One and two are described as ‘the carv’d pillar or monument call’d Maen y Chwyvan in Flintshire’. Seven is ‘the chequer’d Pavement discover’d Anno 1692. at Kaer Lheion in Monmouthshire’. Ten is ‘one of the leaden Boxes mention’d at Lhan Boydy in Caermardhinshire’ while eleven and twelve is ‘the same open’d’. Eighteen is ‘a brass Amulet dug out of a Well somewhere in Denbighshire. The other side differ’d not from that which is engraven’.[20] There is no similar page in volume one, which makes this ‘Index of Curiosity’ a curious inclusion itself. The coins previously listed are the closest Camden came to a similar index. It is unclear why he included this, as there is no introduction or further information aside from the short descriptions of the objects illustrated.
Camden also indexed various pillars and artifacts he found during his travels through the different counties. Since he was particularly interested in Roman occupation of England, those made up the majority of the artifacts he deemed important enough to add.
In volume two Camden writes about Wales as well as the union of England and Scotland. He provides the articles of the treaty and then continues with the maps of the counties in Scotland as well as information on Ireland and its counties. It is important to note that unlike the English counties, he does not include individual maps of the counties of Wales, Scotland, and Ireland; only the main map of the country. Lastly, he describes the various British islands. In this edition, there is an appendix that includes writings relevant to this volume that were written after the original 1586 publication date.
Image 11: Camden, Britannia, 2 vols (London, 1722), ii, before Col. 701-702, map of South Wales.
Unlike Scotland and Ireland, Camden does not include an overall history of Wales at the beginning of this section. Instead, he interperses its history throughout his description of the individual counties. He includes many illustrations in the description of the Welsh counties as there was a significant amount of Roman activity in the area which greatly interested him. For example, in Pembrokshire he includes a story of five urns that were dug up in which burnt bones were found. Camden mentions that this might feel ‘Barbarous’ and one might suspect this was not Roman, but he argues that one could not assume every Roman artisan was a master craftsman.[21]
Image 12: Camden, Britannia, 2 vols (London, 1722), ii, before Col. 1153-1154, map of ‘the south part of Scotland’.
Camden opens the section on Scotland with a description of the weather and soil quality. He devotes a single paragraph to Christianity in Scotland, and an even shorter paragraph listing the four Universities – ‘St Andrews, Glasgow, Aber-North Britdeen, and Edenburg’.[22] He then writes a very brief description of the native Scots and states ‘with respect to the manners and customs of the People, it is divided into the High-land-men and Low-land-men. These are more civilized, and use the language and habit of the English; the other, more rude and barbarous, and use that of the Irish’.[23] He then begins his histories and commentary on the counties in Scotland. These descriptions are much briefer compared to the counties of Wales, and also include far fewer illustrations.
Image 13: Camden, Britannia, 2 vols (London, 1722), ii, before Col. 1309-1310, map of Ireland.
Camden begins the section on Ireland with a discussion on the various names the island had been called over the years by Greek and Roman sources. He attempted to trace the origins of these names, but he struggled to trace the original source. Camden concludes it must come from the Irish name ‘Erin’, but is unsatisfied with this answer. He continues his history of Ireland with a look at who might be the original inhabitants. Camden states that the island has likely always been inhabited, but because there are a ‘vast number of British words which are to be met with in the Irish tongue’ that Britons must have migrated there, and mentions that an unnamed ancient geographer referred to Ireland as ‘an Island of the Britians’.[24] Camden briefly mentions English colonization of Ireland, but is more focused on English politics in regard to noblemen who were put in charge of running the country; a single page covers the government of Ireland which only describes English rule. After this brief history of the entire island, which mainly focuses only on English rule of Ireland, he lists the counties of Ireland with short descriptions. Once again, the descriptions of each county focus much more on English politics within the area. Camden devoted only a small portion of the text to descriptions of the county. At the very back of the Irish section, he includes a few pages to ‘The Antient and Modern Customs of the Irish’.[25] As in his disquisition on Scotland, Camden’s comments reflect his biases. He describes the Irish as ‘rude and barbarous’, ‘warlike’, ‘wild’, ‘superstitious’, and says they ‘corrupt the English among them; and it is scare credible how soon these will degenerate: Such a proneness there is in human nature, to grow worse’.[26] This type of language has been used by many different groups over the years to justify colonization – such as by the colonists when they arrived in America, and later by Andrew Jackson during his forced removal and relocation of Native Americans towards the western US states.
Image 14: Camden, Britannia, 2 vols (London, 1722), ii, before Col. 1437-1438, Islands in the British Ocean.
Camden begins this section by briefly listing the names of the islands. When he begins the individual sections on the islands, he goes over any Greek or Roman sources that mention the land or its uses. For example, the section that describes the Isle of Man begins with the various names it has been referred to by Ptolemy, Pliny, and Bede.[27] Camden also describes the land itself, sometimes mentioning animals native to the area, as well as descriptions of the people who live there. Like the previous entries, he goes on to describe how it is governed by England.
Edmund Gibson (1669-1748)
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Britannia was translated into English by Edmund Gibson who was librarian and chaplain to multiple archbishops of Lincoln starting in 1723. Gibson was born in 1669 in Westmorland; 21 years later he was granted a BA from Queen’s College, Oxford. At first, he did not accept his degree, as he was dubious of the legitimacy of the King and Queen’s rule, but a year later determined that William (1650 – 1702) and Mary (1677 – 1694) were rulers ‘de jure’ as well as ‘de facto’.[28]
He wrote or translated multiple books including William Drummond’s Polemo-Middinia inter Vitarvam et Nebernam (Oxford, 1691), James V’s Cantilena rustica, Chronicum Saxonicum (Oxford, 1692), De instituione oratoria (Oxford, 1693), Julii Caesaris Portus Iccius illustratus (Oxford, 1694), and A Treatise of the Roman Ports and Forts in Kent (Oxford, 1693). Chronicum and Julii Caesaris can both be found in the Edward Worth Library. His most famous publication is, of course, his translation of Britannia; he had assistance from Ralph Thoresby (1658 – 1725), Samuel Pepys (1633 – 1703), and Edward Lhuyd (1659/60? – 1709) in the translation which was finally published in 1695. In the 1722 edition (Worth’s edition) he expanded it with further commentary and his own additions. This edition of Camden’s Britannia was the standard for a century until the 1789 version by Richard Gough (1735 – 1809) eventually superseded it.[29]
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Image 15: Edmund Gibson, Chronicon Saxonicum (Oxford, 1692), Anglo-Saxon map.
Gibson was living with his uncle, Thomas Gibson, as he worked on his version of Britannia and felt the ‘call to divinity’; he became an ordained deacon in 1695.[30] He was then appointed as a librarian in Lambeth Palace in 1696; in 1697 he became an ordained priest. In 1698 Archbishop Thomas Tension (1636 – 1715) ‘appointed him as one of his domestic chaplains’.[31] Gibson could now enjoy a life of patronage from an influential archbishop within the church; he started a religious society and began to publish devotional tracts for his parishioners. These were shorter pamphlets meant to facilitate further learning within the church. They were both written in 1705 and were titled Family Devotion (London, 1705) and The Holy Sacrament Explain’d (London, 1705). They were repeatedly revised and expanded with multiple editions and continued to be published for over a century later, well into the 1800s. They were also popular in the American colonies.[32]
Gibson married Margaret Jones (d. 1741) in 1704. Their first son died two years after his birth, but Margaret had 10 more children before her death in 1741. During this period, there was ‘bitter conflict’ between the high and low-churchmen.[33] Gibson was given the job of formulating the ‘low-church’ response. He wrote The Right of the Archbishop to Continue or Prorogue the Whole Convocation (London, 1701), The Schedule Review’d (London, 1702), and The Pretended Independence of the Lower-House upon the Upper, a Groundless Notion (London, 1703). These were relatively controversial writings, and it was noted that many people found Gibson too partisan.[34]
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Image 16: Edmund Gibson, Julii Caesaris Portus Iccius illustrates (Oxford, 1694), Antiquitatum map.
In 1723 he was derogatorily referred to as ‘Walpole’s Pope’, although he stated his role was ‘the chief managing and conducting of Church-affairs under the ministry’.[35] One of his positions was to organize the bishops in the House of Lords, which proved to be a demanding job. He knew it was important that (despite being whig-leaning himself) the tory clergy also felt comfortable in a whig-led church. He later resigned from this position in 1736.[36]
In 1748, after some discussions within the church – they wanted him to come back and fill a role he had previously been passed over for, which he declined due to his age – he began to feel quite ill and traveled to Bath to find a doctor. Less than a month after his arrival, he passed away on 6 September 1748. He is considered ‘a major figure in the religious and intellectual life of the period’; however, he was derided for many years after his death as a new churchman slandered his writings and it was not until a full biography – written by Norman Sykes – was published in 1926 that his reputation was secured as ‘the most influential of Georgian prelates’.[37]
Robert Morden (d. 1703)
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Image 17: Camden, Britannia, 2 vols (London, 1722), i, after Col. CCLXVII-CCLXVIII, map of Cornwall.
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Each county starts with a map drawn by Robert Morden (d. 1703). Cornwall is the first county map in volume one. Occasionally the map does not have him listed as the creator, in which case it is unclear whether it was done by him or if it is from the original edition of the book – although sometimes it is quite obvious he is not the map maker as his are of a higher quality than the maps where he is not listed as a creator. A clear example of this is the above map of Cornwall (by Morden), and the map of Rutlandshire below (which was not produced by him).
Image 18: Camden, Britannia, 2 vols (London, 1722), i, after Col. 543-544, map of Rutlandshire.
Occasionally the map is located on the second page of the section it depicts. These maps are usually a double spread, and some of them are also fold out maps if the area is large enough that Morden felt it needed extra space. An example of that is a fold out map of Kent (one of the more detailed ones), which can be found further below.
Robert Morden (d. 1703) – the creator of the maps in the 1722 edition – originally created them for the 1695 translated/republished edition which was also reissued in 1722, 1753, and 1772. As he died in 1703, his maps were republished without further additions or amendments. These maps were considered the standard for the areas they represented for approximately 50 years, as Morden had created the maps along with help from locals.[38]
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Image 19: Camden, Britannia, 2 vols (London, 1722), i, after Col. 215-216, map of Kent which is an example of a fold out map done by Morden.
Morden had four sons and three daughters with his wife Mary. He was relatively unknown for most of his career – in his own words he had ‘lain latent under the horizon of unknown obscurity, and irresistible poverty’.[39] It seems that by the end of his career it was a different story; he is likely to have been one of the first successful commercial map makers as he was selling a high volume of charts, globes, and maps.[40]
Morden created a map of the world which was condensed into 13 sheets titled The New Map of the Earth and Water (1699) – an ambitious project for the time. He also published a book called An Introduction to Astronomy, Geography, Navigation, and other Mathematical Sciences (London, 1702) in which he explained how to use various mathematical instruments in relation to geography and navigation. He died only a year after publishing this work.[41]
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Mary Matthews (d. 1722) and Awnsham Churchill (1658 – 1728)
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Mary Matthews (d. 1722) – wife of printer John Matthews Sr (16821 – 1716) – printed this edition after taking over her husband’s printing business. Unfortunately, little information is available concerning Mary but it is known that she printed it on behalf of Awnsham Churchill (1658 – 1728), a relatively popular bookseller at that time.[42] Churchill was born on 2 May 1658, in Dorset. He had an apprenticeship with bookseller George Sawbridge in 1676 and published his first book in 1681. Churchill later entered a partnership with his brother John (1663 – 1714) and opened their own shop on Paternoster Row – the center for publishers in London – under the sign of the Black Swan.[43]
It was noted that he and his brother were willing to sell and keep contact with persons of dubious intent, as long as they had the money to pay the pair. Awnsham had somewhat controversial political and religious beliefs – such as his firm belief in religious toleration, and he called for Charles II (1630 – 85) to allow parliament to sit. These controversial opinions brought him under the gaze of John Locke (1632 – 1704) who picked Churchill to become his financial agent as well as publisher and book dealer.[44]
In 1687 Churchill was arrested for printing and selling Fagel’s Letter, a cry for religious toleration. Despite this, his business was quite lucrative and in 1694 he was able to invest £500 of stock in the Bank of England. He was known for being a ‘true whig’ and thus was approached to publish the memoirs of republican Edmund Ludlow (1616/17 – 92). A legal battle ensued when the original holder of the manuscripts – Slingsby Bethel (1617 – 97) – stated he wanted no edits to the work; Bethel died in 1697 and Churchill was able to win the manuscripts in court. They were published with the edits.[45]
Churchill’s most famous publication was John Locke’s An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (London, 1689) — an edition of which can be found in the Edward Worth Library. Locke left him with £10 in his will and made him a trustee. In 1728, Churchill passed; he was unmarried, so he left £100 to his brother William (1657 – 1737) and left his property and ‘extensive library’ to his nephews.[46]
Worth’s edition of Camden’s Britannia was sold by William Taylor in Paternoster Row. He and his father John Taylor ran the printing shop together in 1700; Taylor made his first Term Catalogue entry in 1710.[47] He sold his books under the sign SHIP – publishers in Paternoster Row either had a sign or number for their publishing spot – and was also the original publisher of the first edition of Robinson Crusoe in 1719.[48]
William Camden’s Britannia was the first of its kind in regards to use of primary resources and material culture in the study of British history. The number of times it was republished, and the fact that it was translated into English and then republished several more times, is proof enough that the two volumes deserve their high praise. Worth’s 1722 edition has the beautiful maps created by Robert Morden that were used in subsequent English editions of the text. Britannia is an important piece of literature in British history that still has value to modern historians as an example of what can be accomplished with primary resource studies.
Text:Â Ms Alex Weber, MA in Public History and Cultural Heritage, TCD.
Bibliography
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Camden, William, Britannia: or a Choriographical Description of Great Britain and Ireland, together with Adjacent Lands (London, 1722).
Herendeen, Wyman H., ‘Camden, William,’ ODNB.
Knights, Mark, ‘Churchill, Awnsham,’ ODNB.
Levy, F. J., ‘The Making of Camden’s Britannia,’ Bibliothèque d’humanisme et Renaissance, 26 (1964) 70–97.
Ordish, T.F., London Topographical Record, 3 vols (London, 1906).
Plomer, R. Henry, A Dictionary of the Printers and Booksellers Who Were at Work in England, Scotland and Ireland from 1668 to 1725 (Oxford University Press, 1922).
Taylor, Stephen, ‘Gibson, Edmund.’ ODNB.
Woolf, D.R., The Idea of History in Early Stuart England: Erudition, Ideology, and ‘The Light of Truth’ from the Accession of James 1 to the Civil War (University of Toronto Press, 1990).
Worms, Laurence, ‘Morden, Robert.’ ODNB.
[1] William Camden, Britannia: or a Choriographical Description of Great Britain and Ireland, together with Adjacent Lands, 2 vols (London, 1722), i, Sig. D1r.
[2] Wyman H. Herendeen, ‘Camden, William,’ ODNB, 2004.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Camden, Britannia, i, Sig. D2r-v.
[5] F.J. Levy, ‘The Making of Camden’s Britannia,’ Bibliothèque d’humanisme et Renaissance, 26 (1964), 70–97.
[6] D.R. Woolf, The Idea of History in Early Stuart England: Erudition, Ideology, and ‘The Light of Truth’ from the Accession of James 1 to the Civil War (University of Toronto Press, 1990), p. 166.
[7] Camden, Britannia, i,, Sig. E2v.
[8] Herendeen, ‘Camden, William,’ ODNB.
[9] Woolf, The Idea of History, p. 120.
[10] Herendeen, ‘Camden, William,’ ODNB.
[11] Ibid.
[12] Ibid.
[13] Camden, Britannia, Col. CXVII.
[14] Ibid, Col. CXI.
[15] Ibid, Col. CXIX.
[16] Ibid, Col. CXXII.
[17] Ibid, Col. CXXVI.
[18] Ibid. Col. 122.
[19] Ibid, Col. 295.
[20] Ibid, Col. 831.
[21] Ibid, Col. 763.
[22] Ibid, Col. 1153 – 1156.
[23] Ibid, Col. 1157 – 1158.
[24] Ibid, Col. 1309 – 1314.
[25] Ibid, Col. 1415.
[26] Ibid, Col. 1415 – 1423.
[27] Ibid, Col. 1439.
[28] Stephen Taylor, ‘Gibson, Edmund,’ ODNB.
[29] Ibid.
[30] Ibid.
[31] Ibid.
[32] Ibid.
[33] Ibid.
[34] Ibid.
[35] Ibid.
[36] Ibid.
[37] Ibid.
[38] Laurence Worms, ‘Morden, Robert,’ ODNB.
[39] Ibid.
[40] Ibid.
[41] Ibid.
[42] Mark Knights, ‘Churchill, Awnsham,’ ODNB.
[43] Ibid.
[44] Ibid.
[45] Ibid.
[46] Ibid.
[47] Henry R. Plomer, A Dictionary of the Printers and Booksellers Who Were at Work in England, Scotland and Ireland from 1668 to 1725 (Oxford University Press, 1922), p. 285.
[48] T.F. Ordish, London Topographical Record, 3 vols (London, 1906), iii, p. 159.