View source for An Actual Survey of All Principal Roads of England and Wales


== Historical Context ==

=== John Ogilby ===

John Ogilby (1600-1676) was a Scottish translator, cartographer, poet, printer, publisher, and innovator best known for his work Britannia, an innovative road atlas encompassing 7,500 miles of routes throughout England and Wales. After spending much of his early life focused on theater and translating the classicals of Virgil, Homer, and Aesop, Ogilby turned his focus to his interests in geography and mapmaking. In response to the Great Fire of London in 1666, Ogilby was placed on a team led by Robert Hooke to settle land disputes throughout the city. During this period to help solve the disputes, Ogilby is credited with his survey of London. With the success of his survey and subsequent atlases of different regions of the world, King Charles II appointed Ogilby to be Royal Cosmographer and in charge of producing an atlas of Britain, which would turn into his Britannia.