The Maps and Text of the Boke of Idrography Presented by Jean Rotz to Henry VIII, Now in the British Library

Printed for presentation to the members of the Roxburghe Club, Oxford, first edition, 1981. Half morocco, top edge gilt, folio, 62 cm,. xvi, 96 pp, 32 leaves of plates. A splendid volume reproducing Jean Rotz' manuscript Boke of Idrography (British Library manuscript, Royal MS 20 E.ix) in facsimile, with expert introductory essays by contributors including Helen Wallis, Janet Backhouse, W. Stanford Reid, Roger Desreumaux, P. E. H. Hair , D. B. Quinn, W. C. Sturtevant . These describe the origin, contents, and history of the atlas, what is now known about Rotz, his connection with the Dieppe pilots and hydrographers, and his relations with the English Court. Rotz' atlas consists of an explanatory introduction, eleven regional charts and a mappa mundi. Contents of this Roxburghe Club edition include: Foreword by Viscount Eccles. Part I. Jean Rotz His Life and Times. Chapter 1. Jean Rotz Dieppe Hydrographer. The Dieppe Family Ross or Ros Jean Ango and the Dieppe Voyages. Rotz's Early Voyages; Chapter 2. Servant to Henry VIII. Rotz and His Contemporaries at Henry VIII's Court. Hydrographer to Henry VIII; Chapter 3. Merchant Captain of Dieppe. Chapter 4. Cartographe et Marin, Jean Roze. Part II The Works of Jean Rotz . Chapter 5. The Differential Quadrant and The'traicte'. Chapter 6. The Boke of Idrography; The Author's Claims for His Boke; The Boke in the Context of the Dieppe School of Hydrography; Dating and Sources; Africa; The Americas; Java-La-Grande: the First Sight of Australia?; The Ethnographical Illustrations; Chapter 7. Conclusion. Part III. Transcripts and Contents of the Boke. Dedication to Henry VIII. Instructions to Navigators. Contents of Atlas. Bibliography. Index. Small booklabel of the University of Oxford Printers Library on front pastedown endpaper, minor scuffs to the covers and to the top-edge gilding, very minor marks to the front free endpaper, otherwise Near Fine.