Harris's History of Kent

First published in 1719, John Harris’s History of Kent is especially prized for its remarkable series of engraved maps and prospects. Foremost among these are the celebrated and highly decorative bird’s-eye views of the county’s principal country houses and estates, many engraved by Johannes Kip and all executed in his distinctive elevated perspective. These plates portray grand residences set amid formal gardens, sweeping avenues, deer parks and carefully ordered landscapes, serving as both architectural portraits and statements of status and dominion. The accompanying maps are equally compelling, including a large map of the county, surveys of the former Isles of Thanet and Oxney, and a notable depiction of the Elizabethan network of hilltop warning beacons. Together they form an invaluable visual record of the county's early 18th-century topography and landed society, preserving estates and landscapes often since altered or lost.