41
JOHN NORDEN'S MAP OF ESSEX.
When noticing Mr. Winstone's book on St. John's Chapel, Epping,
we mentioned that the author had given us permission to use the
stone of Norden's map for a future number of the Essex Naturalist.
On examining, however, the copy of the map given in his book, Mr.
Winstone was not fully satisfied with it, and he resolved to have it
re-lithographed specially for our periodical. This was done; but Mr.
Winstone's generosity did not stop at this point; he had the whole
edition of copies struck off at his own cost, and we are consequently
enabled to place in the hands of our members, without expense to the
Club, a carefully executed facsimile copy of one of the most interesting
of the older maps of Essex.
John Norden was born in 1548, and was educated at Hart Hall,
Oxford, taking his M.A. degree in 1572-3. He is supposed to have
been the author of a considerable number of devotional works, but
his great claim for remembrance rests on his labours as a topo-
grapher. Norden was largely occupied during the last years of
Elizabeth's reign in making surveys of the English counties, and
soon after James's accession he was made Surveyor of the King's
lands or woods. Descriptions and maps of several counties, and
other topographical works, were compiled by him, and published
during his lifetime. His maps were the first in which roads were
inserted, and those of Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Kent, Middlesex,
Surrey, and Sussex appeared upon an enlarged scale, but with roads
omitted, in the 6th edition of Camden's "Britannia," fol., Lond.
1607. The same counties, with the exception of Kent, but with
Cornwall added, appeared upon a still larger scale in John Speed's
"Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine etc.," fol., Lond. 1611.
The MS. of Norden's description and map of Essex remained in
the Marquis of Salisbury's library at Hatfield until the Camden
Society obtained permission to reproduce it, and the volume,
"Speculi Britanniae Pars: an Historical and Chorographical De-
scription of the County of Essex, by John Norden, 1594," edited by
Sir Henry Ellis, formed one of the publications of the Society for
the year 1840. The map now presented to the Club by Mr.
Winstone was copied by the photo-lithographic process from that
volume. Sir Henry Ellis wrote a very interesting introduction to the
Camden Society's Edition, which gives almost all the information we
possess concerning Norden and his works. Norden's MS. was divided