The first publication of this general map is believed to be the first volume of the ‘Magna Britannia et Hibernia’ by Herman Moll 1720 although Shirley dates it later. Only the one state is known. Herman Moll (1654?-1732) was born it is believed in Bremen, Germany, although he is often thought of as being Dutch. He is first recorded in London working on the Moses Pitt atlas in 1678. Much of his early work was undertaken for others, or in partnership with the likes of Christopher Browne, Philip Lea, or Robert Morden. Moll’s earliest world atlases were geographical texts, the ‘Thesaurus Geographus’ of 1695 was enlarged to become the ‘System of Geography’ in 1701. The small maps were issued in several differently entitled works at the time. He then moved to the opposite end of the size spectrum with the ‘World Described’ offering a series of elephant folio sized maps. A first attempt at a quarto sized atlas was the ‘Atlas Geographus’ issued in parts from 1711-17 which is extremely rare. This was followed by the ‘Magna Britannia et Hibernia’ in a similar multi-volume format. Provenance: J Coombes 1999; private English collection. Hodson (1984) 128; Shirley (1988) Moll 12; Shirley (2004) Mord 4d, no. 1; Worms & Baynton-Williams (2011).