Rare atlas on show in Leeds for first time

Saxton made the map of Yorkshire - his home county - twice the size of that of England and Wales

An extremely rare copy of one of the UK's first ever atlases is to go on show for the first time.

The Saxton Atlas was created by Christopher Saxton in 1578 after he received permission from Queen Elizabeth I.

The book contains 35 hand-coloured maps of the counties of England and Wales.

The atlas, which formed the basis of all succeeding county maps for over 100 years, is part of a heritage event at Leeds Central Library.

Philip Wilde (pictured above), from Leeds Central Library, said Saxton's finished work was dedicated to the Queen

Librarians said the book provided Elizabethans with "beautifully engraved, hand-coloured county maps".

It was created after Yorkshire-born Saxton "toured the whole nation to survey every county and collect all the minute detail he needed to bring his atlas together," they added.

The atlas's pages feature Ledes and Bradforthe, the old names for Leeds and Bradford, and Saxton himself is believed to have been born in Dewsbury in the early 1540s before moving to south Leeds.

The atlas was completed in 1578 and was published the following year

A spokesperson for the library said: "Whilst most of the maps within the atlas were engraved on single copper plates, Saxton decided Yorkshire was important enough to require two, making the map of his home county twice the size of that of England and Wales."

The book, which has been compared to a map-collector's version of the first folio of Shakespeare, was not fully replaced as the definitive geographical representation of England and Wales until Ordnance Survey began publishing one-inch maps in 1801, they added.

The book was funded with the financial backing of the monarch's master of requests Thomas Seckford, officials said

Philip Wilde, library assistant at Leeds Central Library, said: "This collection of maps was the very first time anyone had comprehensively mapped the counties of England and Wales in this way. Saxton's diligence, dedication and eye for detail completely transformed our understanding of the entire nation.

"Today, thanks to modern technology, being able to see and understand the landscape of the country is always at our fingertips.

"But centuries ago this atlas would have been a massive leap in how people were able to relate to where they lived and its place in the nation as a whole."

The atlas is set to go on show to the public during a special heritage open day event at the library on 9 September.