New College Library, Oxford, BT1.47.9

Christopher Saxton’s 1579 Atlas of England and Wales: An Unexpected Savilian Book Among New College Library’s Treasures

Alexandra Plane
Issue number
(2019): 12

Christopher Saxton’s 1579 Atlas of the Counties of England and Wales is one of New College Library’s finest early printed volumes.  The atlas was originally in the possession of the Savile family—a wealthy, academically inclined Yorkshire dynasty.  It was first owned by John Savile, the older brother of the Elizabethan scholar and courtier Sir Henry Savile, who founded the Savilian Professorships in Geometry and Astronomy, both of which are attached to New College.

 

New College Library, Oxford, BT1.47.9

 

New College Library and Archives, Oxford