FIRST EDITIONS. Andrew Dury (fl.1754-77) it is believed was a Huguenot emigre from Paris who first appears in Dublin in 1754 presumably having accompanied John Rocque. He was, it is believed, the manager of Rocque’s shop in 1757. Dury was an engraver, surveyor, publisher, printer, map and printseller. In 1761 he co-published with Robert Sayer ‘A New General and Universal Atlas’ with 39 small maps engraved on 45 sheets. A second edition was printed in collaboration with Carington Bowles c.1764 to accompany, it is believed, ‘A Collection of Plans of the Principal Cities of Great Britain and Ireland’. This second atlas is undated but has been attributed 1764 on the basis of the plan of London which on the contents leaf is described as ‘London as it is this present year 1764’.

The ‘Collection’ begins with a charming series of town plans based on those of John Rocque as stated in the title. Except for the map of the Isle of Wight the maps are coastal ones surrounding the whole of the British Isles. The Isle of Wight is numbered ‘0’, is out of sequence and may have been a last minute inclusion. This example is extra illustrated with a large folding map of England and Wales by Peter Bell, according to the imprint it was printed and sold by Andrew Dury. These atlases are issued at a great period in British history. The French and Indian War’ had just finished with the Treaty of Paris in 1763 which left Britain in a dominant global position. Shirley (BL) T.Dury 1a & 2a; Worms & Baynton-Williams (2011).