John Ogilby

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John Ogilby
portrait of a seventeenth-century gentleman with long hair
Portrait of John Ogilby from a 1660 edition of Homer's Iliad
BornNovember 1600
Kirriemuir (Angus, Scotland)
Died4 September 1676(1676-09-04) (aged 75)
London
NationalityScottish
Occupation(s)translator, impresario and cartographer
Notable workTranslations of Virgil and Homer; maps of selected roads in England and Wales.

John Ogilby (also Ogelby, Oglivie; November 1600 – 4 September 1676) was a Scottish translator, impresario and cartographer. Best known for publishing the first British road atlas, he was also a successful translator, noted for publishing his work in handsome illustrated editions. He also established Ireland's first theatre on Dublin's Werburgh Street.

Life[edit]

Ogilby was born in or near "Killemeure" (Kirriemuir), Scotland in November 1600 and given away to foster parents at birth.[1] He was educated at the Merchant Taylors' School in London.[1] Ogilby began his working life when eleven years old, as an apprentice to a dance company and became an accomplished dancer.[2] However, a fall while dancing in a masque lamed him for life and ended this career.[1]

Ogilby was eventually taken to Ireland by Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford, on the latter's appointment there as Lord Deputy of Ireland, to be tutor to his children. While in Dublin, Ogilby then went on to establish Ireland's first theatre, the Werburgh Street Theatre,[3] as a consequence of which he was made deputy-Master of the Revels in 1637.[1] For the four years that the theatre was open, it was a financial success but it had to be closed as a result of the Irish Rebellion of 1641.[4] With theatre and dancing ruled out, he spent his time on translating the complete works of Virgil.[1]

Ogilby returned to England in 1646, being shipwrecked on his homeward journey.[5] Fortunately his translation in manuscript, which was wrapped in a waterproof cloth, survived and was published.[1] The financial success of his Virgil translations encouraged Ogilby to learn Greek from David Whitford, who was an usher in the school kept by James Shirley the dramatist. Ogilby's Homer his Iliad translated appeared in 1660 and in 1665, Homer his Odyssey translated.[5]

After his return to London in 1650, he married a rich heiress, Christina Hunsdon.[4] In the following year, he published the first edition of his politicised The fables of Aesop paraphras'd in verse, and adorn'd with sculpture and illustrated with annotations, illustrated by Francis Cleyn.[6][7] The next few years were spent in translating and the opening of a publishing business in London. The Restoration of Charles II brought favour back to Ogilby with a commission to help in the arrangements for the coronation in 1660, with the composition of speeches and songs.[1] In that year too he brought out his translation of Homer's Iliad, dedicated to his royal patron.[citation needed] A year later he was again made Master of the Revels in Ireland and he set about the building of a new theatre in Smock Alley, Dublin.[8] The libretto of the musical play Pompey by Katherine Philips, performed at Smock Alley in 1663, credits him as the composer of the tunes.[9]

By 1665 Ogilby had returned to London and published a second, revised edition of The Fables of Aesop, this time illustrated by Wenceslaus Hollar's renowned prints.[7] He had to republish the book in 1668, since his property was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666. Rebuilding in Whitefriars, he set up a printing press there from which he issued many magnificent books, the most important of which were a series of atlases, with engravings and maps by Hollar and others.[citation needed] After the Great Fire, he was appointed as a "sworn viewer" and made "the most accurate Survey of the City of London and Libertyes therof that has ever been done".[1] In 1671, he was appointed "Royal Cosmographer".[1][a]

Ogilby died in 1676 and was buried at St Bride's Church,[5][10] one of Sir Christopher Wren's new London churches.

Literary reputation[edit]

In the years that followed, Ogilby's reputation as a translator was to suffer from the attacks made on him by John Dryden in his satirical MacFlecknoe, and by Alexander Pope in The Dunciad. Following their lead, the Scottish philosopher David Hume used Ogilby's work to illustrate the idea that common sense frequently appeals to a "standard of taste" in aesthetic matters: 'Whoever would assert an equality of genius and elegance between Ogilby and Milton, or Bunyan and Addison, would be thought to defend no less an extravagance, than if he had maintained a mole-hill to be as high as Teneriffe, or a pond as extensive as the ocean'.[11]

Such judgements stuck and it is only recently that Ogilby's work has again been given scholarly attention, particularly his versions of Aesop's Fables.[12] These, according to the short life of him published by Theophilus Cibber,[13] were 'generally confessed to have exceeded whatever hath been done before in that kind'. They renewed interest in the fable as a literary medium and led the way in suggesting their adaptation to the troubled politics of the time. Both Dryden and Pope were as indebted to him in this as Dryden was for certain lines in his own translation of the Aeneid.[14]

Britannia[edit]

In 1674 Ogilby had been appointed "His Majesty's Cosmographer and Geographic Printer" to King Charles II and in 1675 issued his Britannia atlas, which included such details as the configurations of hills, bridges, ferries and the relative size of towns. One hundred strip road maps are shown, accompanied by a double-sided page of text giving additional advice for the map's use, notes on the towns shown and the alternative pronunciations of their name.[15] Another innovation was Ogilby's scale of one inch to the mile (1:63360).[16] These are marked and numbered on each map, the miles further being divided into furlongs.[17] At that period some of the minor roads used the local mile rather than the standard mile of 1760 standard yards which Ogilby adopted in his atlas, setting the standard for road maps in future.[18]

Ogilby's Britannia inspired and provided the model for Britannia Depicta or Ogilby improv'd published by Emanuel Bowen and John Owen in 1720. [19]

In his 2008 television series Terry Jones suggested that one of the map's purposes might have been to facilitate a Catholic takeover of the kingdom, a hypothesis supported by historian Alan Ereira.[20]

List of 100 plates in Ogilby's 1675 Britannia atlas[edit]

Image from John Ogilby's 1675 "Britannia" atlas, showing two routes from Newmarket, Suffolk: to Wells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk and to Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk.
  1. London, Acton, Uxbridge, Beaconsfield, High Wycombe, Tetsworth, Oxford, Islip
  2. Islip, Moreton-in-Marsh, Broadway, Pershore, Bromyard, Worcester
  3. Bromyard, Leominster, Presteign, Aberystwyth
  4. London, Ewell, Dorking, Billingshurst, Amberley, Arundel, Chichester
  5. London, Waltham, Hoddesdon, Ware, Royston, Huntingdon, Stilton
  6. Stilton, Stamford, Grantham, Newark, Tuxford
  7. Tuxford, Doncaster, Wentbridge, Tadcaster, York
  8. York, Boroughbridge, Northallerton, Darlington, Durham, Chester-le-Street
  9. Chester-le-Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, Morpeth, Alnwick, Belford, Berwick
  10. London, Hounslow, Maidenhead, Reading, Newbury, Hungerford, Marlborough
  11. Marlborough, Calne, Chippenham, Bristol, Axbridge, Huntspill
  12. London, Acton, Uxbridge, Amersham, Aylesbury, Buckingham, Banbury
  13. Banbury, Stratford, Bromsgrove, Kidderminster, Bridgnorth, Banbury, Camden
  14. London, Brentford, Hounslow, Colnbrook, Slough, Maidenhead, Abingdon
  15. Abingdon, Faringdon, Fairford, Barnsley, Gloucester, Monmouth
  16. Monmouth, Newport, Cardiff, Cowbridge, Aberavon, Burton
  17. Burton, Kidwelly, Haverfordwest, St Davids
  18. London, Southwark, Rochester, Canterbury, Dover
  19. London, Romford, Brentford, Chelmsford, Colchester, Harwich
  20. London, Farningham, Maidstone, Ashford, Hythe
  21. London, High Barnet, St Albans, Dunstable, Stony Stratford, Towcester
  22. Towcester, Daventry, Coventry, Lichfield
  23. Lichfield, Rugeley, Stone, Stableford, Nantwich, Tarporley, Chester
  24. Chester, Denbigh, Conway, Beaumaris, Holyhead
  25. London, Hounslow, Staines, Basingstoke, Andover
  26. Andover, Salisbury, Shaftsbury, Sherborne, Crewkerne
  27. Crewkerne, Honiton, Exeter, Ashburton, Plymouth
  28. Plymouth, Fowey, Tregony, Penzance, Land's End
  29. London, Croydon, East Grinstead, Lewes, Newhaven, Brighton, Shoreham
  30. London, Wandsworth, Cobham, Godalming, Petersfield, Portsmouth
  31. London, Bromley, Sevenoaks, Tonbridge, Rye
  32. Andover, Warminster, Bruton, Bridgwater
  33. Bridgwater, Dulverton, Barnstaple, Torrington, Hatherleigh
  34. Hatherleigh, Camelford, Padstow, St Columb, Truro
  35. Chippenham, Bath, Wells, Marlborough, Devizes, Trowbridge, Wells
  36. Stilton, Peterborough, Spalding, Boston, Sleaford, Lincoln
  37. Darleston, Brewerton, Warrington, Wigan, Preston, Garstang
  38. Garstang, Lancaster, Bolton, Kendal, Penrith, Carlisle
  39. Guildford, Midhurst, Chichester, Midhurst, Petersfield, Winchester
  40. Stony Stratford, Northampton, Market Harborough, Leicester, Loughborough, Derby
  41. Temsford, Stilton, Peterborough, Market Deeping, Sleaford, Lincoln
  42. Lincoln, Redbourne, Brigg, Barton, Hull, Beverley, Flamborough
  43. Puckeridge, Cambridge, Ely, Downham, King's Lynn
  44. Four Shire Stone, Chipping Campden, Worcester, Ludlow, Montgomery
  45. High Barnet, Hatfield, Baldock, Biggleswade, St Neots, Oakham
  46. Puckeridge, Newmarket, Thetford, Attleborough, Windham, Norwich
  47. St Albans, Luton, Bedford, Wellingborough, Kettering, Oakham
  48. Oakham, Melton Mowbray, Nottingham, Mansfield, Rotherham, Barnsley
  49. Barnsley, Halifax, Skipton, Middleham, Richmond
  50. Meriden, Birmingham, Bridgnorth, Shrewsbury, Welshpool
  51. Bagshot, Farnham, Alton, Alresford, Southampton, Romsey, Salisbury
  52. Newmarket, Swaffham, Wells; plus Newmarket, Bury St Edmunds
  53. Basingstoke, Stockbridge, Cranborne, Blandford, Dorchester, Weymouth
  54. Colchester, Ipswich, Saxmundham, Beccles, Yarmouth
  55. Bristol, Chipping Sodbury, Tetbury, Cirencester, Burford, Banbury
  56. Bristol, Chepstow, Monmouth, Hereford, Leominster, Ludlow
  57. Ludlow, Shrewsbury, Whitchurch, Chester
  58. Bristol, Wells, Glastonbury, Taunton, Exeter
  59. Bristol, Gloucester, Tewkesbury, Worcester
  60. Bristol, Wells, Crewkerne, Frampton, Weymouth
  61. Cambridge, St Neots, Northampton, Rugby, Coventry
  62. Carlisle, Jedburgh, Kelso, Berwick
  63. Chester, Wrexham, Newtown, Llanbadarn Fynydd ("Vunneth Llanbader"); thence to Cardiff.
  64. Llanbadarn Fynydd ("Llanbader Vunneth"), Brecon ("Breckknock"), Cardiff
  65. Dartmouth, Exeter, Tiverton, Minehead
  66. St Davids, Fishguard, Cardigan, Talybont
  67. Talybont, Bala, Ruthin, Holywell
  68. Exeter, Chulmleigh, Ilfracombe, Bideford, Torrington
  69. Exeter, Tavistock, Liskeard, Truro
  70. Gloucester, Cheltenham, Chipping Campden, Warwick, Coventry
  71. Gloucester, Ross-on-Wye, Hereford, Knighton, Montgomery
  72. Hereford, Worcester, Droitwich, Bromsgrove, Coventry, Leicester
  73. Huntingdon, Ely, Bury St Edmunds, Ipswich
  74. Ipswich, Thwaite, Norwich, Cromer
  75. King's Lynn, Thetford, Stowmarket, Harwich
  76. King's Lynn, Gayton, Billingford, Norwich, Yarmouth
  77. Monmouth, Abergavenny, Brecon, Lampeter
  78. Nottingham, Lincoln, Market Rasen, Grimsby
  79. Oxford, Faringdon, Malmesbury, Bristol
  80. Oxford, Buckingham, Bedford, Cambridge
  81. Oxford, Newbury, Basingstoke, Petersfield, Chichester
  82. Oxford, Banbury, Coventry, Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Derby
  83. Oxford, Hungerford, Salisbury, Cranborne, Poole
  84. Presteign, Builth Wells, Llandovery, Carmarthen
  85. Salisbury, Marlborough, Lechlade, Chipping Campden
  86. Tynemouth, Newcastle, Hexham, Haltwhistle, Carlisle
  87. Welshpool, Dolgellau, Caernarvon
  88. York, Ripley, Skipton, Settle, Lancaster
  89. York, Leeds, Rochdale, Manchester, Warrington
  90. Warrington, Chester, Manchester, Stockport, Derby
  91. Carmarthen, Cardigan, Lampeter, Aberystwyth
  92. Chelmsford, Sudbury, Bury St Edmunds
  93. Chelmsford, Maldon, Rayleigh, Ingatestone, Billericay, Gravesend, Dover
  94. Exeter, Colyford, Lyme Regis, Bridport, Dorchester, Plymouth, Dartmouth
  95. Ferrybridge, Boroughbridge, Ripon, Barnard Castle; plus Ferrybridge to Wakefield
  96. Kendal, Ambleside, Cockermouth, Egremont, Cockermouth, Carlisle
  97. Alresford, Winchester, Poole, Christchurch, Southampton, Winchester
  98. Shrewsbury, Wrexham, Holywell, Chester, Flint, Holywell
  99. Whitby, Guisborough, Stockton, Durham, Sunderland, Tynemouth
  100. York, Pickering, Whitby, New Malton, Sherburn, Scarborough

Facsimile editions of Britannia[edit]

  • Alexander Duckham, 1939 (reduced size)
  • Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, 1970, introduction by John B. Harley
  • Osprey, Reading, 1971, introduction by Roger Cleeve ISBN 0850450349
  • Old Hall Press, Leeds, 1989, introduction by Dr. Helen Wallis, an edition of 500 copies ISBN 0946534179

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ 1671 is Ereira's date. Parker gives 1674.[4] Given that it took three years to produce Britannia (in 1675), Ereira's dating seems more likely unless the work was started in anticipation of royal patronage.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Scurr, Ruth (28 December 2016). "The Nine Lives of John Ogilby review – a cunning cartographer". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 July 2023. (book review)
  2. ^ New, Melvyn (2019). "Review of The Nine Lives of John Ogilby: Britain's Master Map Maker and His Secrets, by Alan Ereira". The Scriblerian and the Kit-Cats. Auburn University at Montgomery, Longwood University, Auburn University. 52 (1): 108–110. doi:10.1353/scb.2019.0019.
  3. ^ Fletcher, Alan J. (1999). Drama, Performance, and Polity in Pre-Cromwellian Ireland. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. pp. 261–4. ISBN 9780802043771.
  4. ^ a b c Parker, Philip. The Atlas of Atlases. p. 153. ISBN 9780711268050. OCLC 1292066597.
  5. ^ a b c Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Ogilby, John" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 20 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
  6. ^ Lindner, Jennifer N. (2002). "From the Collection: Stylistic Influences and Design Sources: An Examination of Winterthur's Fox and the Crane Fireback". Winterthur Portfolio. 37: 74. doi:10.1086/376343. S2CID 142101773. A particularly elegant yet unusual example may be seen in an engraving by Francis Cleyn in John Ogilby's Fables of Aesop Paraphras'd in Verse and Adorned with Sculpture (fig. 9).
  7. ^ a b Dundas, Judith (1995). "The Masks of Cupid and Death". Comparative Drama. 29 (1, Spring): 48–49. The illustration that accompanies the first edition of the Fables, by Francis Cleyn, shows a youth who prays with clasped hands to Cupid in the sky (fig. 3).
  8. ^ "Research Guide for Archival Sources of Smock Alley theatre, Dublin" (PDF). Smock Alley Theatre. October 2009. (Smock Alley is beside Blind Quay)
  9. ^ Boydell, Brian (2001). "John Ogilby". In Sadie, Stanley; Tyrrell, John (eds.). The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (2nd ed.). London: Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-56159-239-5.‎
  10. ^ Walter Thornbury; Edward Walford, eds. (1878). "Fleet Street". Old and New London. Victoria History of the Counties of England. Vol. 1. London: Cassell, Petter & Galpin. pp. 323–327.
  11. ^ Hume, "Of the Standard of Taste", originally published in his Four Dissertations (1757)
  12. ^ Marion Eames, John Ogilby and his Aesop, Bulletin of the New York Public Library 65 (1961), pp 73-88
    • Annabel M. Patterson: Fables of Power: Aesopian Writing and Political History, Duke University Press, Durham NC, 1991
    • Katherine Acheson: The Picture of Nature: Seventeenth-Century English Aesop's Fables, Journal for Early Modern Cultural Studies (IX.2, Fall/Winter 2009), pp. 25-50
  13. ^ Shiells, Robert (1753). The Lives of the Poets of Great Britain and Ireland, to the Time of Dean Swift. at the Dunciad in St. Paul's Church-Yard.: R. Griffiths. pp. 265–.
  14. ^ Proudfoot, L. (1960). Dryden's Aeneid and Its Seventeenth Century Predecessors. Manchester University Press. pp. 126–. GGKEY:B0KWCLWA8PQ.
  15. ^ Ogilby, John (1675). "A catalogue of the several ROADS as they follow successively in the ensuing volume". Britannia – via fulltable.com.
  16. ^ Ogilby, John (1675). "Preface: In the delineation or decyphering these roads upon copper sculptures". Britannia – via fulltable.com.
  17. ^ "The First Road Maps: John Ogilby". The Revolutionary Players. West Midlands History Ltd.
  18. ^ Meredith Donaldson Clark (2013). "'Now Through You Made Public for Everyone', John Ogilby's Britannia". In Vanhaelen, Angela; Ward, Joseph P. (eds.). Making Space Public in Early Modern Europe: Performance, Geography, Privacy. Taylor & Francis. pp. 129-30. ISBN 9781135104672.
  19. ^ Bowen, Emanuel (1720). BRITANNIA DEPICTA or Ogilby improv'd; being a correct coppy of Mr: Ogilby's Actual survey of all ye direct & principal cross roads in England and Wales. London: Tho: Bowles print & map seller.
  20. ^ Jackson, Clare (7 July 2017). "Reshaping the country: The politics behind a historic map". Times Literary Supplement.

Further reading[edit]

External links[edit]

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