A rare map of Oxford with a unique design.

George Willdey (?1671-1737) was a flamboyant London shopkeeper and self-publicist. His principal business was as a toy-man and seller of luxury goods, jewellery, gold and silver trinkets, and china. However, he was perhaps the first mapseller to widen the appeal of maps from an intellectual elite to the general public; the interesting shape and 'fun facts' on the present example show his attempts to broaden their appeal.

Willdey's map of Oxford was part of a series of separately issued maps showing countries across Europe, as well as London, Oxford and Cambridge. This series is most commonly attributed to Samuel Parker, on the grounds that the map of England and Wales bears his signature, and several other maps show his distinctive style. All of these maps are formatted in the same unique way, with the central image contained in an oval set against a dark background, and all four corners containing three roundels of text. The black borders are most rare because of the amount of work required to create large black areas by engraving lines.

This map is extremely rare. There are two known composite atlases, compiled around 1721 and 1790, which contain Willdey's map of Oxford, but we have otherwise been unable to trace any further examples.