''Magna Britannia, being a concise topographical account of the several counties of Great Britain'' was a topographical and historical survey published by the

antiquarian An antiquarian or antiquary () is an fan (person), aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artifact (archaeology), artifac ...

Daniel Lysons Daniel Lysons may refer to: *Daniel Lysons (antiquarian) (1762–1834), English antiquarian and topographer *Daniel Lysons (British Army officer) General Sir Daniel Lysons (1 August 1816 – 29 January 1898) was a British Army general who achieve ...

and his brother

Samuel Lysons Samuel Lysons (1763 – June 1819) was an English antiquarian and engraver who, together with his elder brother Daniel Lysons (1762–1834), published several works on antiquarian topics. He was one of the first archaeologists to investigate ...

in several volumes between 1806 and 1822. It covers the counties of Bedfordshire,

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

, Cambridgeshire,

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

, Cornwall,

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...

, Derbyshire, and Devon. The work was curtailed in 1819 on Samuel Lysons' death. Unlike other similar works published in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, ''Magna Britannia'' is of significant value to economists and social historians because the Lysons brothers included content on topics such as population, manufacture and commerce. They were also far less preoccupied than many antiquarians with

coats of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its wh ...

and pedigrees, and did not overstate the grandeur of the counties, as local topographers were apt to do. An earlier work under the same title had been compiled by Thomas Cox. strictly ''Magna Britannia et Hibernia, antiqua et nova. Or, a new Survey of Great Britain''

Volumes

Volume 1, ''Bedfordshire, Berkshire, and Buckinghamshire'', 1806Volume 2, ''Cambridgeshire and the County Palatine of Chester'', 1810Volume 3, ''Cornwall'', London, 1814Volume 4, ''Cumberland'', 1816Volume 5, ''Derbyshire'', 1817Volume 6, ''Devonshire'', 1822

References

* ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'': entries for Daniel and Samuel Lysons.

Notes

External links

Digitised volumes
at

HathiTrust HathiTrust Digital Library is a large-scale collaborative repository of digital content from research libraries including content digitized via Google Books and the Internet Archive digitization initiatives, as well as content digitized locally ...

. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
Digitised volumes
at Internet Archive. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
Digitised volumes of Magna Britannia
at British History Online. Retrieved 13 March 2015. Book series introduced in 1806 Reference works in the public domain Books about England 1806 non-fiction books Topography {{Topography-stub

Volumes

See also

References

Notes

External links