Series of fifty-two Imperial Quarto Maps, Engraved on Steel,
INCLUDING
FIVE ANCIENT MAPS, ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE IMPORTANT EVENTS IN ANCIENT HISTORY,
WITH A COPIOUS CONSULTING INDEX OF PLACES.
Geographical Knowledge was to a considerable extent an essential necessity even in the early periods of our world, cultivated indeed at first for almost purely social purposes, yet in the same proportion as our progenitors increased in numbers, so also did their extended range of observation instil into their minds the necessity of more practical observations on the relative bearings of the districts through which they passed, noting at the same time the numerous changes of hill and dale, rivulet and stream, and the countless varieties of the wonderful products with which it pleased Almighty God to bless its various regions. Hence progressively arose the Topographical and Geographical Delineations with which the Scriptures abound; to a similar cause may also be traced the contributions which the savage tribes have at various periods of our World's History added to the branches of Geographical science.
Now, in the same proportion as any people forming a Nation develope their commercial and intellectual strength, in the same ratio has it pleased Providence to render it necessary that its inhabitants should not only become acquainted with the Topographical and Geographical features, relative distances and bearings, of their own and neighbouring nations, but of every portion of the known world, even extending their researches to unknown regions. Indeed, no member of a commercial nation, especially in one where education is much diffused, is qualified to act his part aright as one of its people, unless he is able to form a tolerably accurate notion of the names of Nations, Places, Seas, Rivers, Mountains, &c., their relative position and extent, as well as to learn how richly the Creator of the Earth has endowed them all with the means of ministering to those comforts and pleasures of which man in every state of society and climate so much stands in need.
These reflections might be much extended, but the limits of a prospectus will not permit it. Suffice it to say that every Englishman, be he rich or poor, should have access to modern Maps of the various portions of the World, in order to possess the means of cultivating a knowledge of its divisions, the names of the chief Nations, Places, &c. &c., as well as to be able to form intellectual and commercial ideas of its numerous products, and the respective regions from whence come the countless varieties of foreign substances now in use among us as articles of ornament or necessity.
Now, though a Modern Atlas of the World is so essential to every family in this kingdom, still it has been almost limited in its possession, on account of the high price at which all really good and practical works have hitherto been issued. To remove this difficulty has been the principal motive which has induced the Proprietors of "Philips' Penny Modern Atlas" to issue a work which they feel satisfied will be universally admitted to be surprisingly cheap, and not surpassed in usefulness by any attempt hitherto made to extend the knowledge of Geography.