Rare Georgian map of the environs of Bath
By THORPE, Thomas , 1773
Sold

[Somerset] A Map of 5 miles round the City of Bath On a scale of one Inch & half to a Mile, from an Actual Survey made by Tho: Thorpe with Alterations & Improvements to the present time 1773. Printed for and Sold by W. Frederick & W. Taylor Booksellers of whom may be had a New Plan of the City of Bath with the Additional Buildings.

British Isles English Counties
  • Author: THORPE, Thomas
  • Publication place: Bath
  • Publisher: Printed according to Act of Parliament
  • Publication date: March 25th, 1773.
  • Physical description: Engraved plan with original hand-colour in outline.
  • Dimensions: 440 by 440mm (17.25 by 17.25 inches).
  • Inventory reference: 14367

Notes

An unusual map of Bath, set in a round frame in imitation of a compass.

Bath was a fashionable destination for the nobility and gentry of Georgian and Regency Britain. The town itself contained the Pump Room, where the spa waters were drunk, the Theatre Royal, and the Assembly Rooms, where balls were held. The countryside around it was a popular destination for day trips and riding. Although nominally a spa town, it was also an important part of the marriage market, and was less formal than London. The year before this map was published, the playwright Richard Sheridan helped the soprano Elizabeth Linley escape from an arranged marriage and elope to France.

The map is a reduction of Thomas Thorpe’s survey of Bath and its environs. Thorpe first published the large scale map on nine sheets in 1744. The reduction was first published in 1771, then again in 1773 (as in the present example), and in 1787, 1799, and 1800.

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