Lot 57: Stow, John. , A Survay of London. Contayning the Originall, Antiquity, Increase, Moderne estate, and description of that Citie, written in the yeare 1598...also an apologie...with an Appendix...by William Fitzstephen. John Wolfe, 1599

small 4to, first edition, large woodcut on title, woodcut initials, chiefly black letter, contemporary vellum with contemporary or near contemporary lettering on spine, a few early annotations in the text, upper hinge mostly detached , minor tear affecting outer margin of first few leaves (with repair to B1), tiny worm holes towards end, minor browning, vellum binding slightly soiled and darkened

STC 23342; Kress 210

"Thomas St. John", contemporary or near contemporary ownership signature; "Osborn Barwell", late seventeenth- or early eighteenth century signature (both on title)

first edition of the most celebrated work by the most prolific historical writer of the seventeenth century. This is the first edition, but with the variant 1599 imprint (instead of 1598). The outer sheet of quire Hh is in the second setting recorded by STC, with the errata present on Hh10 verso and the second line of Hh1 recto reading "whom". A Survey of London, which "reveals dramatically the pageantry of the sixteenth-century city" (Oxford DNB) appeared in an expanded second edition in 1603, and has remained continuously in print ever since. Stow's topographical survey of the city and its suburbs drew on a wide range of classical and medieval historical literature and public records, in addition to the author's own knowledge of the city where he spent his life.