Cary's New Map of England and Wales with part of Scotland...CARY, John (1755-1835). London: J. Cary, June 11th, 1794. 4to., (11 6/8 x 9 3/8 inches). Engraved title-page, dedication leaf, Explanations, and scale. Engraved "General Map" giving Greenwich as the meridian, and 77 engraved numbered maps (1-81) all with original hand-colour in full. Contemporary tree calf, gilt, all edges gilt (rebacked to style). Provenance: from the library of Christopher Henry Beaumont Pease, Lord Wardington (1924-2005), his sale Library of Important Atlases and Geographies, 18th October 2005, lot 94. First edition. The general map of England and Wales is "is the first map on the meridian of Greenwich instead of London (St. Paul's Cathedral) which had been used on English maps from its introduction by John Seller in 1676" (Wardington). There are in fact four meridians that pass through the Royal Observatory in Greenwich: the first was Flamsteed's, established in 1675 and named for the celebrated Astronomer Royal; the second was established by Edmund Halley in 1725; the third after James Bradley; and the fourth in 1851 by Sir George Airy. This last was designated the Prime Meridian at an international conference in Washington in 1884, even though France continued to use their own meridian in creating maps for several decades to come. "Cary's first known engraved plan is dated 1779. Henceforth, the quality of his engraving established new standards and a new style, with his effective, starkly beautiful, plain design being widely adopted. His firm's cartographic output was prolific and diverse, ranging through maps, plans, atlases, astronomical and educational works, road-books (including works based on surveys by Aaron Arrowsmith the elder, who probably trained him), guides, and globes. Particularly noteworthy are the immensely popular New and Correct English Atlas (editions from 1787), which became the standard county atlas of the period, and the Traveller's Companion (from 1790), the printing plates of both of which had to be replaced having become worn in the effort to meet the huge demand, and the particularly fine New English Atlas (from 1801) and New Universal Atlas (from 1808)" (David Smith for DNB). From the distinguished library of Lord Wardington, whose collection of Atlases was unique: "a panoply of the history of cartography and of great mapmakers" (Andrew Phillips "An Appreciation", Sotheby's sale Catalogue). Guidance: Sotheby's, 2001 - $3,045