1775 Sayer (5 results)

Excellent. Few minor scuffs not impacting printed image. Else an excellent example with generous margins and attractive hand color. Size 18.25 x 24 Inches. This is a beautiful example of Robert Sayers' Bermuda, incorporating Clement Lemprière's seminal survey of 1738. Lemprière's survey was the first important mapping of Bermuda in the 18th century, and Sayers' imprint was the first widely available commercial application of that new data. A Closer Look Coverage embraces Bermuda and the adjacent seas. The northern-oriented work nests the islands of Bermuda with rhumb lines, but it is not only a sea chart: in addition to the copious nautical details of shoals and reefs, Sayer features detailed topography, roads, and settlements. 'Tribes' of Bermuda As with a number of its precursor maps, this work displays the administrative zones of Bermuda termed 'Tribes.' The Somers Isles company was founded by the shareholders of the Virginia Company formed in 1614. When the Virginia company folded in 1622, Somers Isles Company, which held a separate charter, continued to administer Bermuda for nearly six decades. Most of Bermuda was subdivided into eight equally sized administrative zones initially termed 'tribes,' later changed to 'parishes.' These were named for shareholders in the Company and were further divided (by tribe roads) into lots equating to shares held. Saint George formed a ninth subdivision, now the easternmost parish, incorporating Saint George's Island, Saint David's Island, part of the Main Island, and various smaller islands and islets around Castle Harbour (Southampton Harbour) and Saint George's Harbour. This area was held in common by the Company shareholders and served as Bermuda's original capital, Saint George's Town. While Saint George Harbour was easily accessed by maritime merchants, the location of the capital made it difficult to administer the western reaches of the island, where smugglers and pirates were most active. Bermuda, a haven for smugglers Lemprière was probably contracted by the governor of Bermuda to create a map of the island in an attempt to curb smuggling. By the 18th century, Bermuda had become a mecca for smugglers. The small archipelago was conveniently located on the trade route between the West Indies and Europe. Free traders, pirates, and smugglers from all countries could conceal themselves in Bermuda's many hidden coves and bays and conduct trade without paying the onerous East India Company tax. They could also use the hidden coves to trade with foreign nations under British embargo. The colonial governors tried in vain to stop the rampant smuggling, but with only a small military staff and a host of corrupt officials, the effort proved hopeless. Publication History and Census This chart was engraved for Robert Sayer in 1775, for inclusion in Thomas Jeffreys' West-India Atlas ; the present example is the second, 1787 state, distinguished by the changed date in the imprint the plate. A further, Laurie and Whittle appeared in 1797 following their takeover of Sayers' firm. Separate examples of the chart appear in a handful of institutional collections. It is rare on the market in any state. References: Rumsey 4723.006.

Very good, near fine. Several panels joined by publisher. Wide margins. Platemark visible. Size 45 x 14.5 Inches. A scarce, important, and dramatic map of the Mississippi River Valley from the Gulf of Mexico to Fort Chartres (Illinois). This was the best map of the Mississippi to appear before the American Revolutionary War (1775 - 1783) and remained significant even after the war when it was the best demarkation of the western boundary of the United States. Most Important Map of the Mississippi Compiled by Lieut. John Ross of the 34th Foot Regiment, this map was commissioned immediately following the British acquisition of this territory at the end of the French and Indian War (1754 - 1763). Ross, who was trained as a field surveyor, was commanded to ascend the Mississippi from the Gulf of Mexico to Fort Chartres, the last French holdout in North America, where he was to accept the surrender of Commandant Louis Groston de Saint-Ange et de Bellerive. Along the way, he made detailed reconnaissance and surveys, which Sayer used to update and revise the cartography of Jean Baptiste D'Anville. Sayer published this work in his American Atlas , considered the most authoritative and comprehensive mappings of North America to date. His timing could not have been better, for a few years later, with the contemporaneous 1775 outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, both sides of the conflict relied on Sayer's large detailed map to formulate strategies. After the war, it took on even greater importance as it was the best available map of the western boundary of the newly formed United States. A Closer Look Set on the meridian of New Orleans, this map covers the Mississippi Valley from the Gulf of Mexico to Fort Chartres, located in present-day Illinois, just south of St. Louis, Missouri. The map also includes superb detail of the lands to the immediate east of the Mississippi, including numerous tributary rivers: the Pearl River, the Yasous River (Yazoo River), the Chickasaw River, and the Ohio River, among others. Also noted are various American Indian villages, old and abandoned fortifications, trading posts, mineral deposits, and other resources. Topography is rendered in profile. The map offers exceptional detail throughout, though it is most exhaustive in the lower reaches and to the East of the Mississippi. The site where Ferdinand de Soto discovered the Mississippi is marked near the center of the map. It is noteworthy that detail is richest east of the Mississippi - a fact that can be understood in the political context as Ross was not allowed to do any mapping in Spanish Louisiana (west of the Mississippi). The cartographer does identify three mysterious mountain ranges: the Natchez Mountains, the Yazous Mountains, and the Chickasaws Mountains. These are likely early attempts to address the Great Smokey Mountains and the Blue Ridge Mountains. Updates over the 1772 edition include the addition of Fort St. Leon and St. Mary and significant updates to the territory immediately surrounding New Orleans. American Indian Tribes identified include the Flathead, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Chackhuma, 'Akansas or the Handsome Men,' Wiapes, Corrois, Yazoo, Ofogoulas, Chepoussea, Caskaskias, Colapissas (later known as Huoma), and others. He sometimes includes the number of warriors living in individual villages. Frederick Webb Hodge consulted this map extensively in constructing his exhaustive Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico . Joseph Frederick Wallet Des Barres also consulted this map for his own map of the Mississippi. Publication History and Census The present example represents Stevens and Tree state 'b.' This map was published in three states over multiple editions in several different atlases from 1772 to 1794. The Library of Congress holds examples from Thomas Jefferys' American Atlas as well as from Thomas Kitchin's General Atlas . References: Rumsey 0411.044. Phillips (Atlases) 4300. Smith, T. R., Maps of the 16th to 19th cen.

Average. Laid down on archival paper. Several repaired splits and tears. Discoloration along the left side. Wear and splits (reinforced) along some of the old fold lines. Size 20 x 45 Inches. A 1775 map of North America by John Green, also known as Braddock Mead. The map is a masterpiece of late 18th-century cartography by one of the least understood and most controversial cartographers of his age. Mead composed the map in protest to what he considered the flagrantly spurious and irresponsible cartography of Frenchmen Joseph-Nicolas De l'Isle (1688 - 1768) and Phillipe Buache (1700 - 1773). It is noteworthy for its treatment of the speculative 'River of the West,' its naming of the Chinese colony of Fusang, and its tentative mapping of the Aleutian archipelago. A Forthright Cartographer The cartographer, Braddock Mead / John Green, is uncommonly forthright with his process. Through the map's many annotations, a reader can follow his reasoning as he attempts to piece together a mostly unexplored continent. The map contains three tables where Mead offers his own coordinates for comparison with those of Bellin and D'Anville, thus supporting the superiority of his research. Throughout, he references explorations and discoveries, offering commentary and delineating the routes of notable navigators, including Baffin, Hudson, Bering, and others. A Closer Look The map embraces from Hudson Bay to the northern part of South America, inclusive of the modern-day United States, Canada, Mexico, and Central America. Mead offers a wealth of commentary concerning the known and unknown, particularly as relates to the Transmississippi. It notes, but gives no credence to, the spurious discoveries of Admiral de Fonte, as well as the more factual discoveries of Francis Drake, Juan de Fuca, and Martin D'Aguilar. Further north, we find the legendary Chinese colony of Fusang. To the south, an expansive River of the West (the Columbia River?) stretches from the supposed location of Aguilar's Inlet (1693) inland to connect with Lake Winnipeg. Fusang Along the coast of modern-day British Columbia, in an unexplored zone identified by ghosted lines, is the postulated Chinese colony of Fusang. Fusang or Fousang was first documented by the 5th-century Chinese Buddhist missionary Hui Shen. Hui Shen describes a land some 20,000 Chinese Li (c. 8000 km) east of the China coast. Fusang is described in considerable detail in Yao Silian's 7th-century Book of Liang. There are also accounts that the land was settled c. 220 BC by a Chinese Emperor of the Han. In later days, Fusang was commonly used in Chinese poetry to designate Japan. However, earlier references keep it distinct. In any case, Hui Shen's description of Fusang, with regard to distance and geography, corresponds more with the coast of North America than with Japan. The French historian Joseph de Guignes promoted Fusang in his 1761 article Le Fou-Sang des Chinois est-il l'Amerique? . Cartographers of the era, including Buache de Neuville, Zatta, Robert de Vaugondy, and others, included Fusang on many of their maps. Islands of Silver and Gold Despite Mead's attempts to correct the errors of his contemporaries, he makes plenty of his own. At the far west of the map, we note with interest the 'Rica de Plata' (Silver Island) and 'Rica de Oro' (Gold Island). These islands, believed to lie east of Japan, were so saturated in precious metals that the tall, friendly, light-skinned inhabitants even fashioned their homes out of gold. They were first reported to western navigators by Francisco Gali (1539 - 1586), the captain of the Manila galleon San Juan Bautista , who heard of them while visiting Macao in 1582 - 83. Most likely, the tales were derived from Japanese folklore. Wishful thinking, nonetheless, drove at least three expeditions to unsuccessfully search for them. Publication History and Census This map was drawn by Braddock Mead for Thomas Jefferys, but here was published by Sayer and Bennett in 1775 for.

Very good. One wormhole, mended. Else excellent with generous margins and a bold strike. Size 24.5 x 19.5 Inches. This is a 1775 Sayer and Bennett chart of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, compiled from an array of surveys recorded over the preceding 25 years, including the 1763-5 surveys of Captain James Cook. A Closer Look The chart covers the waters from the mouth of the St. Lawrence River in the northwest to the Strait of Belle-Isle in the northeast, and its southeastern opening into the Atlantic Ocean. It thus depicts the southern coast of Quebec from Sept-îles to Red Bay in Labrador and the west coast of Newfoundland from Green Island to the vicinity of Rencontre West. The west shores of the gulf are charted from Grande-Vallée to Cape Breton Island, detailing Chaleur Bay and the peninsula of Nova Scotia as far around as Beaver Harbour. Within the gulf are charted Anticosti Island, Prince Edward Island (here named Island of Saint John), and Cap-aux Meules (named Magdalen Islands on the chart). The chart is replete with depth soundings, shallows, fishing banks, and navigational notes. Two engraved ships illustrate the typical French routes entering and leaving the St. Lawrence River. The Sources The chart is the result of an initiative by the British Admiralty to better comprehend the coasts and waters that were awarded to Great Britain by the 1763 Treaty of Paris, following the conclusion of the French and Indian War (1754 - 1763). James Cook was promptly sent to survey these waters in April 1763, just two months after the treaty signing - although he already had some familiarity with the region, having taken part in operations against the French there during the war. Sayer and Bennett's map added Cook's surveys - mainly of Labrador and Newfoundland - to an array of preexisting British and French sources, both contemporary and prior to the French and Indian War. Publication History and Census This chart was engraved in 1775 for inclusion in Sayer and Bennett's North American Pilot , the production of which had passed to them following the death of Thomas Jefferys in 1771. The chart appeared in subsequent editions of that work, as well as copies of the American Atlas (later editions of this can be distinguished by the addition of 'Pl. No' in the upper right corner accompanying the Roman numeral appearing here; the earliest are identical to that found in the Pilot . The chart is well represented in institutional collections. References: Rumsey 0346.012 . OCLC 976799376. Skelton and Tooley in Tooley, R. V. The Mapping of America, pp 175-216. Entry 13.

Very good. Some mat burn in margin and minor creases. Few marginal mends away from printed image. Original outline color. Size 18 x 24 Inches. An attractive example of Robert Sayer's 1775 translation of Gerhard Friedrich Müller's map presented to refute the spurious geography of the Pacific Northwest proposed by the French cartographers Philippe Buache and Joseph Nicolas De l'Isle. The map covers the same area as the 1752 Buache / De l'Isle map, and uses similarly state-of-the-art data from Russian explorers to show their successes in sailing via a Northeast Passage into the Pacific. This map however presents Müller's cartography of the American Northwest in explicit contradiction of the Buache/De l'Isle imaginary Sea of the West, and reliance on the fictional journeys of Admiral De Fonte. Thus, the map includes the North Pacific, including parts of Alaska, the Pacific Northwest, and Northeast Asia. Coverage extends from the Arctic Circle south to the latitudes of Vancouver and Japan. Most dramatically, the map includes a large, speculative peninsula extending westward from North America towards Asia. This, known as the Müller Peninsula, would become the dominant geographical model for the Pacific Northwest coast until the actual exploration of those coastal areas by Captain Cook in the 1770s. The map is also notable for its unusual Bulbous promontory in northern Siberia, an interpretation of the Witsen Peninsula, itself a mismapping of the Chukchi Peninsula. Müller Map and Derivatives Müller's Nouvelle Carte Des Decouvertes Faites Par Des Vaisseaux Russes , published in 1754, was the first official map to reflect the results of Vitus Bering's Great Northern Expedition. The Great Northern Expedition was one of the largest and best organized voyages of exploration, the results of which completely remapped most of the Arctic coast of Siberia and some parts of the Northwest coast of America, filling in vast amounts of previously unknown coastal detail, which previously had been the subject of myth and speculation. Originally conceived by Russian Emperor Peter I the Great, the exploration was undertaken under the auspices of Russian Empresses Anna and Elizabeth, under the direction of the Danish navigator Vitus Bering. Lasting from 1733 - 1743, the expedition was intended to map the eastern reaches of Siberia and map the Northwest Coast of America. Its many accomplishments include the European discovery of Alaska, the Aleutian Islands, the Commander Islands, and Bering Island, as well as a detailed mapping of the northern and north-eastern coast of Russia and the Kuril Islands. The expedition formally ended the myth of a massive land mass in the North Pacific. Smuggled into Paris Following the Bering expedition, Joseph Nicholas de L'Isle, younger brother of the major French cartographer Guillaume de L'Isle, privately published (along with Buache) his interpretation of The Great Northern Expedition's Discoveries. J. N. de L'Isle was employed by the St. Petersburg Royal Academy at the time, but upon his brother's death, quit the position and returned to Paris. He partnered with Phillipe Buache to publish a wildly speculative map of the Pacific Northwest that did much to popularize the mythical of the Sea of the West, and which combined that fictional sea with the equally imaginary journeys of the (also imaginary) Admiral De Fonte, in order to suggest a viable sea passage between the Pacific Ocean and Baffin's Bay, or perhaps even Hudson's. The Russians believed that de L'Isle improperly used information he gathered while serving in St. Petersburg at the Royal Academy. Moreover, they were aware of his incorrect delineation of the Northwest Coast of America and were offended that this referenced and demeaned their excellent academic reputation. Irritated by the publication, the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences ordered Gerhard Müller to compile a more accurate map from the complete official accounts of the Great Northern Exped.