The map of Durham is one of the five signed by Augustine Ryther as engraver and was surveyed during 1576 along with the other northern counties. Speculation surrounds the origins of Ryther. Ralph Thoresby stated in 1715 that he was ‘probably of Leeds’ and may well indeed be related to the ennobled family of that name from Yorkshire. He was one of the earliest English born copper plate engravers and signed five of Saxton’s maps. It is quite likely he was the author of others. He went on to collaborate on the sale of the Saxton’s atlas. Certainly there is evidence to show that he continued to sell it after the Saxton’s ten-year privilege expired. His finest works are the plates for Robert Adams depicting the Spanish Armada published in 1590. Ryther was however in debtor’s prison for the winter of 1594-95 and thereafter there is no record. This map is one of a handful for which Web altered the title from Latin to English. Both the arms and cipher of Elizabeth I are replaced by those of Charles I and the gryphon is replaced by a unicorn.

William Web (fl.1629-52) was a bookseller from Oxford. In 1645 he published ‘The Maps of all the Shires in England and Wales. Exactly taken and truly described by Christopher Saxton’. The imprint states ‘Printed for William Web at the Globe in Cornehill, London’, despite Web being a bookseller in Oxford. Quite how he came into possession of the Saxton plates is unknown. The fact that the court of Charles I was in Oxford for the duration of the Civil War (1642-46) and the atlas is dedicated to the King can be no coincidence. The war undoubtedly caused a delay as most maps bear the date of 1642 despite the title imprint being 1645. Because it did not have the same impact and no doubt because of the Civil War this edition of Saxton’s atlas is one of the rarest surviving in ONLY THREE RECORDED EXAMPLES. Evans & Lawrence (1979) pp. 45-7; Shirley Atlases in the BL T.Sax 1g; Skelton (1970) 27; Worms & Baynton-Williams (2011).