A magnificent and complete copy of Kip's celebrated work surveying the country houses, gardens and parks of the Augustan age. Also including fine plates of the royal palaces, naval towns (Harwich, Chatham, Rochester, Portsmouth, Plymouth and the Eddystone Lighthouse), cathedrals, the colleges of Oxford and Cambridge, and large panoramic views of London, Westminster, Oxford and Cambridge.

The book was first published in 1707 when David Mortier issued the first 80 plates under the title "Britannia Illustrata". A French translation as "Nouveau Theatre" appeared in 1708. The work expanded over time with the addition of an atlas "Atlas Anglois" (not present here), published and sold separately after 1714 when Mortier acquired the Schenk and Valk plates from Amsterdam. A second part was added to volume one in 1716, to accommodate the plates previously published in Sir Robert Atkyn's "The Ancient and Present State of Glocestershire" (London, 1712) with an additional nine plates, as here. The "Supplement" contains the rare series of plates of Audley End.