British Isles.- Collins (Capt. Greenville) Great Britain's Coasting Pilot. In Two Parts. Being a new and Exact Survey of the Sea-Coast of England and Scotland from the River of Thames to the Westward and Northward, letterpress title printed in red & black, additional illustrated title with an inset map of the British Isles, dedications to the Master and Wardens of Trinity House, preface and general description, 45 uncoloured engraved charts only, mostly double-page, four folding (English Channel, Carlingford Loch, Scilly Isles and the River Thames), and two sheets of costal profiles, printed on thick paper, some heavy damp-stains and browning, some heavy off-setting and spotting throughout, the damp-stains and off-setting notably worse to charts in the first quarter, title pages and text with damp-stains and browning, rough edges, some of the folding maps with minor splits and nicks, modern endpapers, modern half calf, marbled boards, spine gilt, folio, Mount & Page, 1781

⁂ Greenville Collins was one of the most important English cartographers though little is known of the man himself. He was made a commander in 1679 and "Hydrographer to the King" by Charles II. In 1681 Charles II appointed Collins to "survey the seacoast of the kingdom by measuring all the sea coasts with a chain and taking all the bearings of the headlands". It took him from 1681-1688 to do this survey and he produced 120 manuscript draughts. In 1693 the charts were published in atlas form.