Plans of the fortifications at Newport and Cowes, Isle of Wight.

The plan is signed "Le Lieutenant Collo. de Stroff fecit." Saunders notes: "Paul August de Storff was employed to survey garrisons in the Isle of Wight from 1671 and the next year was involved with alterations to Rincurran Fort, Kinsale. He was appointed as an engineer to the English Ordnance in 1678 until his discharge three months later" (see: Saunders, Andrew. Fortress Builder, p. 243). Three other Isle of Wight fortification plans by Storff are also present in the YCBA collection, depicting: an unidentified fort, possibly at Newtown (Dartmouth no. vi.1); Sandown (Dartmouth vi.3); and Carisbrooke Castle (Dartmouth vi.4).
Provenance: From the collection of George Legge, first Baron Dartmouth, 1648-1691 (see Sotheby's sale, March 8-10, 1948). Baron Dartmouth was Master-General of the Ordnance to Charles II and James II. His collection of maps was partly abstracted from Royal map collections, an arrangement described by Pepys in Bodleian Library MS Rawl. A. 171, 17r-20v. See also Skelton and Wallis. The map is numbered "2" in black ink, "vi.2" in graphite.
Mounted on cloth.
Scale approximated from bar scale given in feet.
Title devised by cataloger.
Skelton, R. "The Royal map collections of England." In Imago mundi, vol. 13 (1956), p. 181-183
Wallis, H. "The Royal map collections of England." In Revista da Universidade de Coimbra, vol. XXVIII (1980), p. 466-467
Manuscript plans for two fortifications on the Isle of Wight, by Paul Auguste de Storff. The locations are unidentified, but they probably represent Newport and Cowes. Identification is based on a similar manuscript item at the British Library (Maps K.Top.15.5), on an identical scale; see link provided herewith. Land surrounding the forts is rendered semi-pictorially, displaying trees, buildings, etc. An inset view depicts a cross section of one of the fortifications, on a larger scale.