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'The Military Antiquities of the Romans in North Britain' by William Roy

Reference code
ROY
Title
'The Military Antiquities of the Romans in North Britain' by William Roy
Date
1773
Level of description
Fonds
Extent and format
ff. iv + 282, iii + 50 maps and plans. Two volumes.
Large folio.
Leather binding, brown, gilt-tooled.
Scope and content
The Military Antiquities of the Romans in North Britain', by William Roy (1726-90), Deputy Quarter-Master-General of the Forces (General 1786); 1773 (date and title in BL King's MSS 247, 248, which are dedicated to George III). The present MS is a less finished copy.

Two volumes:- Vol. I. Text. Lacks title. Table of Contents, fols. iii-iv;- Vol. II. Plates, consisting of 50 maps, plans, etc., mostly coloured. Lacks no. LI on the printed 'List of Plates', fol. iii, which precedes the plates. Includes (after no. XXXVII) an extra view (sepia wash) of Duntocher Bridge on Grims Dyke (attributed to Joseph Farington, RA, and dated 1792 in the 1793 publication; see below, Macdonald, 213-14, for this plate).

There are significant differences in detail between the drawings in this volume and those in King's MS 248. For a full account of the sources see G. Macdonald. 'General Roy and his Military Antiquities of the Romans in North Britain', Archaeologia, 68 (1917), 161-228. See also Proc., 2nd ser., 29 (1916-17), 205-6. Roy's work was published by SA, 1793, from the present MS collated with King's MSS 247, 248. (Inf. Dr Yolande Hodson, FSA).
Creator
Roy, William (1726-1790), Major General, military engineer and surveyor
Previous reference number(s)
SAL/MS/480
MS 480
SAL/MS/214