Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 63.djvu/257

 nicle (Cotton. MS. Tit. A. 9) has been printed by Luard side by side with it, and clearly stands in a close relation to it. From it Gale derived his continuation of the Titus manuscript after 1289, and Anthony Wood, who largely used its local references, quotes it as ‘the Chronicle of Wykes’ (Hist. Univ. Oxford, pp. 95 &c.). Luard has defined the relationship of the two works. In its earlier part (1066–1258) the chronicle of Wykes is very similar to that of Osney, though generally, but not invariably, it is more diffuse and full. In 1258, however, Wykes's narrative becomes substantially distinct, and at the same time extremely valuable. After 1278 the chronicles become almost identical; but from 1280 to 1284 they differ, though ‘Wykes’ is now the least useful, and substantially an abridgment of the other. They are again identical between 1285 and 1289, in which latter year Wykes stops, though Luard thinks that he sees Wykes's hand in the part of the Osney chronicle down to 1293.

The part of Wykes which has most real value is from 1258 to 1288. For these thirty years it is of almost unique importance. While all the other chroniclers of the barons' wars are, including the Osney annalist, partisans of Montfort, Wykes is a decided royalist. He is, however, a progressive royalist, who criticises freely, and somewhat despises the weakness of Henry III, while greatly reverencing the royal office. His heroes are Richard of Cornwall—whose removal to Germany took away the chief check on the king, and perhaps led to the civil war—and, above all, Edward, who gave his father an intelligible and popular policy, and was strong enough to carry it through with success. Wykes dislikes the foreigners, though he has a good word for William of Valence [q. v.], but a strong hatred for Peter of Aigueblanche [q. v.] He is more than an annalist, writing vigorously if diffusely and rather floridly, and showing a good sense of perspective and more eye to a continuous and interesting narrative than most of his contemporaries.

[Luard's preface to Annales Monastici, vol. iv. pp. i–xxxv, discusses all the problems connected with Wykes's Chronicle. See also Hardy's Descriptive Catalogue of Manuscript Materials of British History (iii. 228), and, above all, Pauli's preface to the extracts from Wykes in Monumenta Germaniæ, SS. (xxviii. 484–6), which gives the result of the investigations of Dr. Liebermann.] 

WYLD, JAMES (1812–1887), geographer, was born in 1812.

His father, (1790–1836), geographer royal, was for fourteen years in the quartermaster-general's office. He introduced the art of lithography into England, and first applied it to the preparation of the plans of actions fought in the Peninsula, which it was his duty to supply. He became one of the foremost geographers in Europe, and his maps, founded upon researches in the hydrographical and military archives of various countries, were remarkable for their number and excellence. Among them may be mentioned a ‘Scripture Atlas,’ Thompson's ‘Edinburgh Atlas,’ and ‘A New Map of the World, exhibiting at one View the Extent, Religion, Population, and Degrees of Civilisation of each Country, with numerous illustrative Notes,’ 1815, 4to. He also arranged for publication the ‘Travels of Mungo Park,’ and compiled maps both for that work and for those of Giovanni Baptista Belzoni [q. v.], the Egyptian explorer. He was a member of many European, American, and Asiatic societies. The title of geographer royal he inherited from his ancestors, and transmitted it to his son. He died from overwork on 14 Oct. 1836.

The younger James Wyld was educated for the army at Woolwich, but soon decided to continue his father's pursuits. He acquired the map business of Faden, and in 1830 joined the Royal Geographical Society. In 1854 he had establishments in Charing Cross East, the Royal Exchange, and at 11 and 12 Charing Cross. The last became the resort of public men, whom he kept supplied with maps of those countries whose affairs occupied the attention of the moment, with full statistical details appended. Among these the chief were a map of Afghanistan, with a pamphlet containing geographical notes and the routes of troops, at the time of the first Afghan war; ‘A Map of the Gold Regions of California, with Geographical and Mineralogical Notes,’ in 1849; ‘Notes on the Distribution of Gold throughout the World, with a Gazetteer of the Gold Diggings of Australia’ (3rd ed. 1853); maps of the Ottoman empire and Black Sea with geographical and hydrographical notes, and of Sebastopol at the time of the Crimean war; and ‘A Map of Central Asia and Afghanistan’ in 1878. Wyld's ‘Popular Atlas,’ which still holds its ground, was a reproduction in lithography of the large maps he issued in cheap monthly numbers. His ‘Atlas of Battles’ was a reproduction of Sir Thomas Mitchell's ‘Survey of Peninsular Battles.’ The ‘Wellington Atlas,’ founded on this and other materials, contains in its text many additions to and corrections of Napier. 