notes Bill 1626

	Research Notes Map Group BILL 1626

Bill 1626
	Map, Hant Shire ie Hampshire, scale about 13 miles to 1 inch, ?derived from the map by Peter Keer, 1599, by John Bill, London, 1626. The map studied is in the Hampshire CC Museums Service Map Collection, item HMCMS:KD1996.17.
	Published in 'The abridgment of Camden's Britan~ia. With the Maps of the seuerall Shires of England and Wales. Printed by John Bill Printer to the Kings most Excellent Maiestie, 1626'.
	MAP FEATURES
	REFERENCES
	ITEMS in the Collection

	The map is copied from Saxton's map, and is like Keer's map. This county map series is said to be the first to show lat and long. Each map has the description of the next county on its reverse, so Hantshire has the description of Berkshire. The atlas has a map of England with a general description, and a note on geography. Sizes: wxh, sheet = 19x15cm; wxh, plate = 126x92mm; wxh, map = 119x86mm.
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MAP FEATURES
title cartouche strapwork cartouche	Printed upper left is a strapwork cartouche with the title:- HANT SHIRE
orientation up is N	The map has no north indicator; it is printed with north at the top of the sheet.
lat and long scales	The left and bottom map borders have latitude and longitude scales; assumed to be for a rectangular projection. The scales are labelled at 5 minute intervals. Latitude runs up; 40, 45, 50, 55, 51, 5, 10, ... 30. The 51 is 51 degrees. Longitude runs eastward, left to right on the sheet; 10, 15, ... 55, 23, 5, 10, ... 55, 24, 5, 10. The 23 and 24 are marked with a degree sign and a prime, and the 23 is accompanied by 0 minutes. Winchester is about 23d 10m E of the map's prime meridian; it is 1d 19m W of Greenwich. The map's prime meridian is somewhere out in the Atlantic, probably the Cape Verde Islands which were one of the places used for the prime meridian before Greenwich was accepted internationally.
scale line scale old english mile	Printed below the title, upper left, is:- A Scale of Miles The scale has 10 miles, marked at 1 mile intervals, labelled at 5 and 10 miles. The 10 miles = 19.8 mm gives a scale 1 to 812800 on the improper assumption of a modern statute mile, the map scale is about:- 1 to 810000 13 miles to 1 inch A better estimate of the map's scale can be got from the positions of a number of towns. Using DISTTAB.exe to do the sums this gives a scale 1 to 1057911; the map scale is about:- 1 to 1100000 16.5 miles to 1 inch and the map's 'mile' is an:- Old English Mile = 1.31 statute miles
sea area sea moire effect	The sea is engraved with a moire effect pattern.
coast line coast shaded	The coast is shaded. Harbours are not labelled. The shape of Thorney Island, and thus Langstone Harbour, is not good.
coastal defence castles	Some of the coastal defence castles are shown, labelled:- Hurst Castle Calshot Castle St. Andrews Castle
rivers bridges	Rivers are marked by a bold wiggly line tapering inland, with some hint of form lines on the wider stretches. Some braiding is shown, for example south of Stockbridge. All the major river systems are shown, with some tributaries; rivers are not labelled. The Stour and Avon are shown entering the sea separately and are engaved far more lightly than others. Two bridges are drawn, by a double line across the river, at Stockbridge and Andover.
relief	No relief is shown. No beacons are shown.
woods forests	Some of the old forests are shown by groups of relatively large tree symbols. None are labelled, but it is easy to recognise several: New Forest, Buckholt Forest, Chute Forest, West Bere Forest, Pamber Forest, East Bere Forest, and Woolmer Forest.
county	The county boundary is a fine dotted line. There are two visible lines; a lighter, less definite, continuous line as well as the bolder dotted line. Perhaps the indefinite line is a rough guide line scratched on the plate before engraving the boundary proper? There are other faint trace lines under/by some rivers. The detached part of Hampshire to theneast is not included. Adjacent counties are labelled in various styles, lareg and perhaps swash lettering, eg:- PART OF WILT SHIRE A few towns are also marked and labelled in the adjacent counties around the Hampshire border.
settlements	Settlements are positioned by a dot and circle, the dot sometimes missed. Places are differntiated by an additional circle, tower, etc. The text labelling is not particularly regular; all labels are roughly italic lowercase.
city	dot and two circles, towers; eg:- Winchester

town	dot and circle, tower; eg:- Alton Basingstock

village	dot and circle, small tower; eg:- Okeley
	The location of text by symbol is not well controlled. In the case of Bishops Waltham things have really gone awry; there are two town marks, dot, circle, tower, and two place names 'Bushe' and 'Waltham' (it is not unusual to find this place called Bush Waltham).
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REFERENCES	Camden, William (after): 1626: Abridgment of Camden's Britannia: Bill, John (London)
also see:-
	related map group -- Keer 1605

ITEMS	in HMCMS Map Collection (scanned item in bold)
	HMCMS:KD1996.17 -- map
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