Page "Ralph Agas" Paragraph 9

He is best remembered for his maps — really bird's-eye views — of London, Oxford, and Cambridge.

The earliest was the plan of Oxford, dated 1578, of which a copy is preserved in the Bodleian Library.

A copy, probably unique, of the plan of Cambridge, dated 1592, is also preserved there.

These maps were bequeathed to the Bodleian Library by Dr. Rawlinson.

The plan of Oxford was re-engraved by Robert Whittlesey, at the charge of the university, in 1728.

This plate was destroyed in the fire at John Nichol's works in 1808.

Of the plan of the cities of London and Westminster, the borough of Southwark, and parts adjacent, two copies were preserved, one of in the Pepysian collection at Magdalene College, Cambridge, and the other the property of the Corporation of London.

There has been much dispute as to the exact date of this view of the metropolis of England as it existed in the time of Queen Elizabeth ; William Henry Overall, F. S. A., came to the conclusion that it could not have been prepared earlier than about the year 1591.