TOPOGRAPHY. 
Jor instruction ot'afterciimers to theyr con- 
solacion and encres of devotion ; tl»ys ab- 
brevyat tietesse shal compendiously ex- 
presse and declare the wondrefiil, and, of 
celestial concel, gracious foundacion of our 
hoely placeys, called the priory of Seynt 
Bartholomew yn Smythfyld, and of the hos- 
pital of olde tyme longyng to the same ; 
with other notabilities expediently to be 
knovvyn; and most specially the gloriouse 
and excellent myiacles wroghte withyii 
them by the intercessions, suffrages, and 
nierytys of the forsayd benynge, feythful, 
and blessid of God, apostyl Sanet Bartho- 
lomy, ynto the laude of Almighty God, and 
agiucion of his infinite power. Ffyrst shal 
be shewyd who vvas ffiinder of owere hoely 
places, and howgh, by grace, he was ffyrst 
pryor of owr priory ; and by howgh longe 
tyme that he contynued yn the same. Thys 
churchc, yn the honoure of most blessed 
Bartholomew apostle, ffunded Kayer, of 
good remembrauucc. And theryn to serve 
God (after the rewle of the most holy fader 
Auslyn) aggregat togidir religiouse men. 
And to them was prelate xxii yere ; usynge 
the office and dignite of a priore.’’ This 
ancient topographer mentions that Rahere, 
the prior and founder of the priory, died in 
the leign of king Stephen, and was suc- 
ceeded by Thomas, in the. year 1144. The 
following passage will prove that the manu- 
script was written immediately after the 
above period ; “ And yn what ordur be 
sette the fundament of tliis temple yn fewe 
wordes lette us shewe, as they testified to 
us that sey him, herd him, and were pre- 
sente yn his workys and dedis ; of thcwhiche 
sumc have take ther slepe yn Cryiste, and 
sume of them be zitte alyve, and wytnesseth 
of that that we shall after say.” 
It may be perceived from this specimen 
of early topography, that we had by no 
means arrived to the degree of excellence 
which Pliny and his contemporaries at- 
tained in similar productions ; neither did 
we accomplish this very desirable point till 
within the last century. Those who have 
perused our best works, historical and de- 
scriptive, before the reign of George II. 
will find great accuracy and deep research ; 
but unfortunately we leain nothing of the 
nature and beauties of the smface of the 
earth, or of the proportions and sculptures 
of our buildings, from the valuable works 
of Lcland, Stowe, Speed, Camden, Dug- 
dale, &c. ; indeed, had not Hollar been em- 
ployed by the latter, his splendid accounts 
of monasteries, and St. Paul’s, would have 
given us no idea whatever of the richness 
of their forms and decorations. 
It is, however, to the authors, whose 
names we have recapitulated, that we are 
indebted for admirable models in topo- 
graphy ; and it would be injustice to the 
moderns to deny them the merit of having 
greatly improved upon them, by their de- 
scending to the minutiae which seems to 
have escaped the attention of their great 
predecessors. The public has for a very 
considerable length of time been extremely 
partial to topographical works, which is 
evinced by the shoals of publications issued 
from the London and proviucial presses on 
this subject. The metropolis has had every 
thing said of it which the art of man could 
rake together ; almost every county has its 
historian, and some have had several ; the 
cities have each been described, and every 
town, worth or not worth a description, 
has its guide ; and, exclusive of those, num- 
bers of tours are continually making their 
appearance. It appears almost invidious 
to mention any particular exertions, with- 
out enumerating every well-founded pre- 
tension to public approbation ; and yet we 
cannot conclude this article accurately 
without observing, that Gtmgh’s edition of 
Camden’s Britannia,” and his “ Sepul- 
chral Monuments” of this kingdom, are wor- 
thy of ranking with the works of our best 
ancient topographers ; and that amongst the 
many excellent county histories we possess, 
none has a greater claim for extent and ac- 
curacy than the “ History of Leicestershire,” 
by Mr. John Nichols. ’I'he environs of 
London liave received every possible atten- 
tion from the indefatigable brotliers, Daniel 
and Samuel Lysons, who are now pursuing 
a most laborious undertaking on nearly the 
same plan, to be extended to all England ; 
and of London, the great centre, every 
thing has been said by Stowe, SUype, and 
Malcolm ; besides the slighter performance 
of Pennant, to whom we are more indebted 
for his other topographical works; and, to 
conclude, we now possess a Topographical 
Dictionary, the patient and useful produc- 
tion of Mr. Carlisle. 
The encouragement all these and similar 
publications have hitherto uniformly met 
with, has been eminently advantageous 
to draftsmen and engravers, whose works, 
for the embellishment of topographical writ- 
ings, are no. surpassed by any which have 
made their appearance on the Continent; 
an assertion that may be proved decidedly 
by referring to the recent publications— 
