Add MS 48021 B

MAP OF LA CORUNA and its surroundings in Galicia, north-west Spain, including El Ferrol, Puentedeume and Betanzos;

c. 1589. Made probably in connection with the 1589 expedition to La Coruña, on which see J. S. Corbett, Drake and the Tudor Navy, ii, 1899, pp. 309-318, and

R. B. Wernham, 'Elizabeth I and the Portugal Expedition of 1589', EHR, lxvi, 1951, pp. 203-205. Notes mention the size of the ship that could reach Betanzos, etc., 'A sandy Bay good for landing with Boats if nede require', and 'The poole of Groyne'. A note 'In this poole the fleete rode . . . ' could refer to 1588, see Corbett, ii, pp. 164, 169, 177. A less finished, perhaps earlier version of this map, Cotton MS. Augustus I.ii.112, has been connected with the expedition of 1597 (Catalogue of the Manuscript Maps . . . in the British Museum, iii, 1861, p. 23), but both maps mention as governor the Marqués de Cerralbo, who died bef.

19 June 1592, see SP Ven. 1592-1603, p. 40. The present map is endorsed 'Mr Harbets Plott of the Citie of Groine', but he remains to be identified as owner or cartographer. Outlines in ink over pencil, wash in several colours. Towns marked by carefully drawn figurative groups of buildings. The inland hill terrain is shown symbolically, with no pretence to topographical accuracy. South at the top.

Paper. 300 mm x 400mm. c. 1589. Found loose in 48021A, with which it has no apparent connection.

Harbert: Map of La Coruña, etc., drawn or owned by: c. 1589.

Corunna, Spain: Map of, and surroundings: c. 1589.

Maps and Plans: La Coruña and region: c. 1589.

Maps and Plans: La Coruña and its surroundings: circ. 1589.

Corunna, Spain: Map of, and its surroundings: circ. 1589.

Elizabeth I of England: Papers of R. Beale, Clerk of the Council: 16th cent.

Robert Beale, Clerk to the Privy Council: Correspondence and papers.