Robert Morden (c. 1650 – 1703) was an English bookseller, publisher, and mapmaker, globemaker and engraver. He was among the first successful commercial map makers. Between about 1675 and his death in 1703, he was based under the sign of the Atlas at premises in Cornhill and New

Cheapside Cheapside is a street in the City of London, the historic and modern financial centre of London, which forms part of the A40 London to Fishguard road. It links St. Martin's Le Grand with Poultry. Near its eastern end at Bank junction, whe ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. His cartographical output was large and varied. His best-known maps are those of South Wales, North Wales and the English Counties first published in a new edition of

William Camden William Camden (2 May 1551 – 9 November 1623) was an English antiquarian, historian, topographer, and herald, best known as author of ''Britannia'', the first chorographical survey of the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, and the ''Ann ...

's ''Britannia'' in 1695, and subsequently reissued in 1722, 1753 and 1772. These maps were based on new information from gentlemen of each county, and were newly engraved. Each had a decorated

cartouche In Egyptian hieroglyphs, a cartouche is an oval with a line at one end tangent to it, indicating that the text enclosed is a royal name. The first examples of the cartouche are associated with pharaohs at the end of the Third Dynasty, but the f ...

, and showed numerous place names. Morden also produced in 1701 a series of smaller county maps often known as Miniature Mordens. In 1695 he published a map of Scotland. It is in parts (e.g. Skye and the Western Isles) essentially a copy of the 1654 map done by

Robert Gordon of Straloch Robert Gordon of Straloch (14 September 1580 – 18 August 1661) was a Scottish cartographer, noted as a poet, mathematician, antiquary, and geographer, and for his collection of music for the lute. Life The younger son of Sir John Gordon of Pi ...

, published by

Joan Blaeu Joan Blaeu (; 23 September 1596 – 21 December 1673) was a Dutch cartographer born in Alkmaar, the son of cartographer Willem Blaeu. Life In 1620, Blaeu became a doctor of law but he joined the work of his father. In 1635, they published ...

; other parts show evidence of more accurate cartography. His (fourth edition) of ''Geography Rectified: or a Description of the World'' from 1700 dedicated to a Thomas Goddard, is a comprehensive work from many aspects. It has more than 700 pages, including a long pedagogic preface, no fewer than 78 maps from Europe including the British Isles, Asia, Africa, America and a two circular maps of the world, representing planet Earth seen from exactly opposite sides – the known world as of its time. (Australia was not yet known in Europe by then; Antarctica was not known anywhere.) It further contains explanations of many general geographical concepts such as

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and

Longitude Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east– west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek let ...

and more. It also contains several comparisons of commodities, customs, history, governments, coins and weights (etc) "with those in London". Its index is extensive. A copy has been kept at the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

for more than a century. He published a new map of the

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, na ...

homeland, Coylot Wanees Country, in 17th-century

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. He is also known for several very rare early maps of the

British colonies in North America British North America comprised the colonial territories of the British Empire in North America from 1783 onwards. English colonisation of North America began in the 16th century in Newfoundland, then further south at Roanoke and Jamestown, ...

, which are now among the earliest and most sought-after maps for collectors of old American maps. He also produced a series of miniature maps of the world, which appeared in both playing-card format and in a series of atlases, including his ''Atlas Terrestris'' and ''Geography Anatomiz'd'', beginning in 1687. Morden was a member of the guild The Worshipful Company of Weavers. He was an apprentice of

Joseph Moxon Joseph Moxon (8 August 1627 – February 1691), hydrographer to Charles II, was an English printer specialising in mathematical books and maps, a maker of globes and mathematical instruments, and mathematical lexicographer. He produced the ...

, hydrographer to Charles II. Apprentices who trained under Morden include Mary Ward in 1674, Philip Lea in 1675 and Margaret Wearg in 1675.

County Maps

The links below are to images of Morden's county maps as published in 1722 ( ''Britannia'' Volume 1 & Volume 2). It is noted in the Preface that the maps had been revised since their first publication in 1695, with place-name spellings adjusted where they 'did not answer either the way of ''writing'' or the ''common way'' of ''pronouncing'' among the People'. Bedfordshire-Morden-1695.jpg, Bedfordshire Berkshire-Morden-1695.jpg, Berkshire Buckinghamshire-Morden-1695.jpg, Buckinghamshire Cambridgeshire-Morden-1695.jpg, Cambridgeshire Cheshire-Morden-1695.jpg, Cheshire Cornwall-Morden-1695.jpg, Cornwall Cumberland-Morden-1695.jpg, Cumberland Derbyshire-Morden-1695.jpg, Derbyshire Devon-Morden-1695.jpg, Devon Dorset-Morden-1695.jpg, Dorset Durham-Morden-1695.jpg, Durham Essex-Morden-1695.jpg, Essex Gloucestershire-Morden-1695.jpg, Gloucestershire Hampshire-Morden-1695.jpg, Hampshire Herefordshire-Morden-1695.jpg, Herefordshire Hertfordshire-Morden-1695.jpg, Hertfordshire Huntingdonshire-Morden-1695.jpg, Huntingdonshire Kent-Morden-1695.jpg, Kent Lancashire-Morden-1695.jpg, Lancashire Leicestershire-Morden-1695.jpg, Leicestershire Lincolnshire-Morden-1695.jpg, Lincolnshire Middlesex-Morden-1695.jpg, Middlesex Monmouthshire-Morden-1695.jpg, Monmouthshire Norfolk-Morden-1695.jpg, Norfolk Northamptonshire-Morden-1695.jpg, Northamptonshire Northumberland-Morden-1695.jpg, Northumberland Nottinghamshire-Morden-1695.jpg, Nottinghamshire Oxfordshire-Morden-1695.jpg, Oxfordshire Rutland-Morden-1695.jpg, Rutland Shropshire-Morden-1695.jpg, Shropshire Somerset-Morden-1695.jpg, Somerset Staffordshire-Morden-1695.jpg, Staffordshire Suffolk-Morden-1695.jpg, Suffolk Surrey-Morden-1695.jpg, Surrey Sussex-Morden-1695.jpg, Sussex Wales (North)-Morden-1695.jpg, Wales (North) Wales (South)-Morden-1695.jpg, Wales (South) Warwickshire-Morden-1695.jpg, Warwickshire Westmorland-Morden-1695.jpg, Westmorland Wiltshire-Morden-1695.jpg, Wiltshire Worcestershire-Morden-1695.jpg, Worcestershire Yorkshire (East Riding)-Morden-1695.jpg, Yorkshire (East Riding) Yorkshire (North Riding)-Morden-1695.jpg, Yorkshire (North Riding) Yorkshire (West Riding)-Morden-1695.jpg, Yorkshire (West Riding)

References

External links

Map of Scotland
National Library of Scotland
''A new map of New England, New York, New Iarsey, Pensilvania, Maryland and Virginia''
on Gallica {{DEFAULTSORT:Morden, Robert English cartographers 1650s births 1703 deaths 17th-century cartographers 17th-century English people