Angliae Notitia: or the Present State of England. The First Part. Fifteenth Edition

1684

De Beer Eb 1684 C

London: Printed for T. Sawbridge, and G. Wells

Edward Chamberlayne (1616-1703) first published his Present State of England in 1669; another two editions followed in the same year. The book is a record of every aspect of English society, and described as a ‘strong monarchist panegyric’. Over 30 editions were printed within 100 years, and each editon's frontispiece engravings represented a change, or not, of monarch. In 1684, Charles II (1630-85) was king after the Restoration in 1660. He is flanked by the two men who filled the highest-ranking offices in the Kingdom: on the left William Sancroft (1617-93), the Archbishop of Canterbury (left), and on the right, Francis North, Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, who holds the purse in which he keeps the actual Seal.