The "Copperplate" map of London is an early large-scale printed map of the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...

and its immediate environs, surveyed between 1553 and 1559, which survives only in part. It is the earliest true map of London (as opposed to panoramic views, such as those of Anton van den Wyngaerde). The original map was probably designed for hanging on a wall, and is believed to have measured approximately high by wide. No copies of the printed map itself are known to have survived; but between 1962 and 1997 three of the original engraved copper printing-plates – from a probable total of 15 – were identified. Although only a fragmentary portion of the map is known, the three plates cover the greater part of the built-up heart of the City of London. The map takes the form of a " bird's-flight view": that is to say, the street layout and other ground features are shown in plan, as if viewed directly from above; while buildings, people and other standing features are shown as if viewed from a great height to the south of the City, but without the

foreshortening Linear or point-projection perspective (from la, perspicere 'to see through') is one of two types of graphical projection perspective in the graphic arts; the other is parallel projection. Linear perspective is an approximate representation, ...

of more distant features that would be necessary for a true perspective view. The map is clearly the source for the slightly smaller-scale and cruder "Woodcut" map, formerly attributed to Ralph Agas, which dates from shortly after 1561; and also, directly or indirectly, for the greatly reduced map of London included in Georg Braun and

Frans Hogenberg Frans Hogenberg (1535–1590) was a Flemish and German painter, engraver, and mapmaker. Hogenberg was born in Mechelen in Flanders as the son of Nicolaas Hogenberg.

's ''Civitates Orbis Terrarum'', published in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

and

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

in 1572. These two derivative maps allow the original extent and size of the Copperplate map to be estimated.

Production

The Copperplate map may have been engraved by mapmakers from the

Low Countries The term Low Countries, also known as the Low Lands ( nl, de Lage Landen, french: les Pays-Bas, lb, déi Niddereg Lännereien) and historically called the Netherlands ( nl, de Nederlanden), Flanders, or Belgica, is a coastal lowland region in N ...

, an important centre of surveying and printing at the time: this is suggested by some of its inscriptions and other details. Its date coincides approximately with the joint reign of Queen

Mary I Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, and as "Bloody Mary" by her Protestant opponents, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain from January 1556 until her death in 1558. She ...

and her husband Philip of Spain (i.e. 1554–58). Philip, whose realms also included the

Spanish Netherlands Spanish Netherlands ( Spanish: Países Bajos Españoles; Dutch: Spaanse Nederlanden; French: Pays-Bas espagnols; German: Spanische Niederlande.) (historically in Spanish: ''Flandes'', the name "Flanders" was used as a '' pars pro toto'') was the ...

, was known as a keen collector of town and city plans, and may have commissioned or patronised the Copperplate map. It has also been suggested that Hanseatic merchants in London, and the

humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humani ...

scholar

George Lily George Lily (died 1559) was an English Roman Catholic priest, humanist scholar, biographer, topographer and cartographer. Life George Lily was born in London, the son of William Lily the grammarian, and his wife Agnes. He may have attended St Pa ...

, played some part in its production. All three surviving plates are heavily worn, suggesting that they were used for printing many times.

Surviving plates

Moorfields

The first plate was discovered in 1962, when an art-dealer contacted the London Museum. It depicts part of the northern perimeter of the

, including a length of the

city wall A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications with towers, bastions and gates ...

, the gates of

Moorgate Moorgate was one of the City of London's northern gates in its defensive wall, the last to be built. The gate took its name from the Moorfields, an area of marshy land that lay immediately north of the wall. The gate was demolished in 1762, b ...

and

Bishopsgate Bishopsgate was one of the eastern gates in London's former defensive wall. The gate gave its name to the Bishopsgate Ward of the City of London. The ward is traditionally divided into ''Bishopsgate Within'', inside the line wall, and ''Bisho ...

, and the suburbs of

Moorfields Moorfields was an open space, partly in the City of London, lying adjacent to – and outside – its northern wall, near the eponymous Moorgate. It was known for its marshy conditions, the result of the defensive wall acting like a dam, i ...

and

Spitalfields Spitalfields is a district in the East End of London and within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The area is formed around Commercial Street (on the A1202 London Inner Ring Road) and includes the locale around Brick Lane, Christ Church ...

. The reverse of the plate had been used for a painting of the

Tower of Babel The Tower of Babel ( he, , ''Mīgdal Bāḇel'') narrative in Genesis 11:1–9 is an origin myth meant to explain why the world's peoples speak different languages. According to the story, a united human race speaking a single language and mi ...

, dated to and attributed to

Marten van Valckenborch Marten van Valckenborch or Marten van Valckenborch the Elder (1535 in Leuven – 1612 in Frankfurt), was a Flemish Renaissance painter, mainly known for his landscapes and city scapes. He also made allegorical paintings and some portraits. Af ...

or a member of his circle. The plate was acquired by the London Museum, and is now in its successor institution, the

Museum of London The Museum of London is a museum in London, covering the history of the UK's capital city from prehistoric to modern times. It was formed in 1976 by amalgamating collections previously held by the City Corporation at the Guildhall Museum (fou ...

Eastern City

The second plate was identified shortly afterwards in private ownership. The map section shows much of the eastern part of the City (immediately to the south of the area covered by the first plate, and extending south to the banks of the

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the ...

), including

Guildhall A guildhall, also known as a "guild hall" or "guild house", is a historical building originally used for tax collecting by municipalities or merchants in Great Britain and the Low Countries. These buildings commonly become town halls and in som ...

and the northern end of London Bridge. The reverse of the plate had been used for a painting of the

Coronation A coronation is the act of placement or bestowal of a crown upon a monarch's head. The term also generally refers not only to the physical crowning but to the whole ceremony wherein the act of crowning occurs, along with the presentation of o ...

and Assumption of the Virgin, painted in and attributed to

Hieronymus Francken I Hieronymus Francken I or Hieronymus Francken the Elder (ca. 1540, Herentals–1610, Paris) was a Flemish painter and an important member of the Francken family of artists. After training in Antwerp, he was mainly active in France, where h ...

. This plate was also purchased by the

in 1985..

Western City

The third plate was identified in 1997 in the collections of the Anhaltische Gemäldegalerie, housed in the Georgium,

Dessau Dessau is a town and former municipality in Germany at the confluence of the rivers Mulde and Elbe, in the '' Bundesland'' (Federal State) of Saxony-Anhalt. Since 1 July 2007, it has been part of the newly created municipality of Dessau-Ro� ...

, Germany. This map section shows much of the western part of the City (immediately to the west of the area covered by the second plate, again extending south to the Thames, and west to the church of

St Dunstan-in-the-West The Guild Church of St Dunstan-in-the-West is in Fleet Street in the City of London. It is dedicated to Dunstan, Bishop of London and Archbishop of Canterbury. The church is of medieval origin, although the present building, with an octagonal nav ...

), with

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglicanism, Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London ...

and the

River Fleet The River Fleet is the largest of London's subterranean rivers, all of which today contain foul water for treatment. Its headwaters are two streams on Hampstead Heath, each of which was dammed into a series of ponds—the Hampstead Ponds an ...

appearing prominently. Like the first plate, the reverse had been used for a painting of the

, in this case dated to but again attributed to a member of the circle of

Dating evidence

The Copperplate map is not explicitly dated, but the original survey can be dated with some precision to between 1553 and 1559 from

internal evidence Textual criticism is a branch of textual scholarship, philology, and of literary criticism that is concerned with the identification of textual variants, or different versions, of either manuscripts or of printed books. Such texts may range in ...

. Key points include the following: *Shrewsbury Place, on the riverfront (eastern City plate), is named as such. Previously known as

Coldharbour House Coldharbour, also spelled Cold Harbour, Cold Harborough, Cold Herbergh, Cold Herberge, and Cold Inn, were two London neighbouring estates in the since dissolved parishes of All-Hallows-the-Less and All-Hallows-the-Great, in today's Dowgate, Dowga ...

, this house was given to the

Earl of Shrewsbury Earl of Shrewsbury () is a hereditary title of nobility created twice in the Peerage of England. The second earldom dates to 1442. The holder of the Earldom of Shrewsbury also holds the title of Earl of Waterford (1446) in the Peerage of Irelan ...

and renamed in 1553. *A free-standing cross in the churchyard of

St Botolph-without-Bishopsgate St Botolph-without-Bishopsgate is a Church of England church in the Bishopsgate Without area of the City of London, and also, by virtue of lying outside the city's (now demolished) eastern walls, part of London's East End. Adjoining the build ...

(Moorfields plate) is shown: this was removed in 1559. *

All Hallows, Bread Street All Hallows Bread Street was a parish church in the Bread Street ward of the City of London, England. It stood on the east side of Bread Street, on the corner with Watling Street. First mentioned in the 13th century, the church was destroyed i ...

(western City plate) is shown with its spire. The spire was struck by lightning in 1559, and taken down shortly afterwards. *

(western City plate) is shown with its spire. The spire was lost in a fire in 1561. *The Royal Exchange does not appear (its location is on the eastern City plate). This major City landmark was erected between 1566 and 1570 and opened in 1571. What is thought to be the Copperplate map is mentioned in a letter from the cartographer Nicholas Reynolds to

Abraham Ortelius Abraham Ortelius (; also Ortels, Orthellius, Wortels; 4 or 14 April 152728 June 1598) was a Brabantian cartographer, geographer, and cosmographer, conventionally recognized as the creator of the first modern atlas, the '' Theatrum Orbis Terr ...

, dated 1562–3.

Gallery

File:Copperplate Map, Museum of London 1.jpg, Moorfields plate: printing surface File:Copperplate Map, Museum of London 2.jpg, Moorfields plate, reverse: ''The Tower of Babel'', c.1600 File:Copperplate Map, Museum of London.jpg, Eastern City plate: printing surface File:Copperplate Map, Museum of London 3.jpg, Eastern City plate, reverse: ''The Coronation and Assumption of the Virgin'', c.1600

References

Bibliography

* (Includes reproduction of the first plate.) * * (Includes reproduction of the first plate.) * (Includes reproductions of the first two plates.) * (Includes reproductions of all three plates.) ** ** ** *

External links

* *{{cite web , url=http://collections.museumoflondon.org.uk/Online/object.aspx?objectID=object-104948&start=6&rows=1 , title=The Copper Plate Map; Nimrod supervising the construction of the Tower of Babel , publisher=Museum of London , accessdate=5 April 2015 Elizabethan era History of the built environment of London History of the City of London Maps of London 16th century in London 16th-century maps and globes