This is the only known copy of the first edition of John Leake’s map (or ‘surveigh’) of the fire damaged city. Paper maps do not like heavy handling and the intensity of discussion, widespread interest, planning and plotting for rebuilding after the Great Fire of London of 1666 may explain why no other copy has survived.
It is based on a larger, but now lost six sheet survey by Leake (and others) which the City of London Corporation had commissioned in the weeks following the fire in order to help them appraise damage, and assess the task ahead.
A drawn version (in The British Library) shows the impressive standards of recording achieved by the surveyors working in the smoking ruins. Road widths are measured and the smallest alleys noted. The version exhibited here is more decorative benefitting from the intricately detailed work of Wenceslaus Hollar (1607-1677). His charming ‘birds – eye’ picture houses in the unscathed areas giving the feel of what was lost.
