This map was one of the most successful literary and cartographic forgeries of the 18th and 19th centuries. It purported to an engraving by Bertram of a Roman map of Britain copied by a 14th century monk, Richard of Cirencester. It had in fact, for reasons which remain obscure, been entirely conceived by Bertram who convinced William Stukely, a respected if somewhat eccentric antiquarian, that it was genuine, and who in turn convinced most of accademics and historians of the time. The map's authenticity was largely unchallenged for nearly a hundred years. [See Rodney Shirley's 'The Map that Never Was' in The Map Collector (Issue No.53)]