1773 Mount and Page Map of Jamaica

Jamaica-mountpage-1773
$800.00
A New and Correct Chart of the Island of Jamaica with its Bays, Harbors, Rocks, Soundings etc. Sold by J. Mount and T. Page on Tower Hill. - Main View
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1773 Mount and Page Map of Jamaica

Jamaica-mountpage-1773

Jamaica, its parishes and navigational hazards.
$800.00

Title


A New and Correct Chart of the Island of Jamaica with its Bays, Harbors, Rocks, Soundings etc. Sold by J. Mount and T. Page on Tower Hill.
  1773 (undated)     17.75 x 26.75 in (45.085 x 67.945 cm)     1 : 323104

Description


This detailed, large 1773 Mount and Page map of Jamaica was at the time of its publication one of the most accurate maps of the island available to the English navigator - The English Pilot being the first entirely English sea-atlas to focus on American waters. The map, properly speaking, is more of a chart - showing its best detail in coastal features, such as anchorages and depth soundings, and provides data for elevations just inland. Port Royal, Kingston, Spanish Town, Careening Caye, and Rock Fort are all shown, with the rest of the island bereft of settlement, apart from Trelawny town (noted in the location of the parish of that name, which does not appear). The interior of the island, the site of both the island's sugar industry and its long history of slave uprisings, is vacant according to this map's nature as a nautical chart.
Publication History and Census
This map appeared in Mount and Page's navigational atlas, The English Pilot. It was included in the fourth volume, which was dedicated to the navigation of the West Indies. Many editions of the atlas were produced, and there is little distinguishing one edition from another as the publishers were less than diligent in updating their work.

Cartographer


Mount and Page (fl. 1701 - 1760) was a London based firm of religious and maritime publishers that flourished in the 18th century. With the publication of the 1732 English Pilot, the Mount and Page name became well-known worldwide as an imprint of nautical charts. The firm was founded at Tower Hill, London, in 1701 by Richard Mount (1654 - 1722) and his apprentice Thomas Page (1780 - March 15, 1733). Mount had previously been in partnership with his father-in-law William Fisher (1631 - 1691) and inherited the business on the latter's death. Page completed his apprenticeship in 1716. Now fully partnered, Mount and Page subsequently acquired the map plates several defunct British nautical chart publishers, including Greenville Collins, Jeremiah Seller, Charles Price, and John and Samuel Thornton - thus nearly monopolizing the British nautical chart business. The firm consequently received several lucrative government contracts and thereby flourished throughout the 18th century, making the fortunes of both families. Successive generations of Mounts and Pages worked in the business, and the families intermarried. Its staple titles were The English Pilot and Navigatio Britannica by John Barrow. By the 1760s, Richard Mount's grandson John Mount (1725 - 1786) was able to retire to Berkshire where he built the stately mansion, Wasing Place. John's son William (1753 - 1815) was the last to work in the map business, and later generations went into politics. More by this mapmaker...

Source


The English Pilot. Fourth Book, (London) c. 1773.     The English Pilot, published from 1671 to 1794, was the brain child of John Seller (1630 – 1697). Seller, recognizing a lack of quality English-made nautical charts, began to compile and engrave charts for a new maritime atlas as early as 1669. That same year he announced the publication of the English Pilot. The work was intended to be published in geographically specific volumes such that only the necessary maps need accompany a voyage. The English Pilot, The First Book, covering English waters, was published in 1671. Despite his claims, most of the maps in the first book were not English productions, but rather worn out Dutch map plates purchased as scrap and then retooled with Seller's imprint. Nonetheless, the work proved popular among merchant seamen and earned him the title 'Hydrographer in Ordinary' as well as copyright protection for 30 years. Seller failed to fully realize his grand scheme but it was picked up in earnest by other cartographers, including William Fisher, John Thornton, John Wingfield, Richard Mount and Thomas Page. Subsequent volumes followed including The Second Book, covering the Mediterranean; The Third Book covering African and Arabian coasts; The Fourth Book comprising the first British atlas exclusively dedicated to the Americas; The Fifth Book, a volume of practical Navigation; and The Sixth Book focusing on East Asian waters. The English Pilot was issued in over 40 editions with a print run exceeding 100 years. It was also pirated by George Grierson and published in Dublin under his imprint. It is one of the most important British atlases ever published.

Condition


Very good. Centerfold reinforced. A few marginal mends not affecting image.

References


Rumsey 12434.000. OCLC 951681407. Sellers and Van Ee #1922; Shirley (BL Atlases) M.MandP-5h #17. Phillips 3563 [20].