1754 Rocque / Sayer Map of the Earl of Pembroke Garden, Wilton, England

John Rocque (1704 - 1762) was an important cartographer, engraver, and surveyor active in England and Ireland in the mid to late 18th century. Rocque is of Huguenot extraction and likely changed his name from 'Jean' upon moving to England from the south of France in 1709. John Rocque seems to have started off life as a landscape designer, working and living with his brother Bartholomew. When Rocque discovered he had a talent for cartography, he sold his skills in conjunction with his brother's landscape design work to various public parks and noble estates. Rocque is well known for his detailed plans of Plainshipp Park, Wilton House, Wrest Park, and Claremont, among others. As his cartographic skills grew he turned his attention to larger scale productions, developing a number of impressive city plans, including the exceptional large format plan of London, for which he is best remembered. Rocque enjoyed considerable business success during his lifetime. Where most English mapmakers were simply reprinting updated versions of older work, Rocque was embarking on time consuming original survey work. He also developed a number of unique approaches to cartography with regard to new techniques for rendering land use and topography - no doubt a layover of his landscape mapping work. Little is known of his personal life, though he did marry twice. His widow, Mary Ann Rocque, carried on his business following his death in 1762. More by this mapmaker...

Robert Sayer (1725 - January 29, 1794) was an important English map publisher and engraver active from the mid to late 18th century. Sayer was born in Sunderland, England, in 1725. He may have clerked as a young man with the Bank of England, but this is unclear. His brother, James Sayer, married Mary Overton, daughter-in-law of John Overton and widow of Philip Overton. Sayer initially worked under Mary Overton, but by December of 1748 was managing the Overton enterprise and gradually took it over, transitioning the plates to his own name. When Thomas Jefferys went bankrupt in 1766, Sayer offered financial assistance to help him stay in business and, in this way, acquired rights to many of the important Jefferys map plates as well as his unpublished research. From about 1774, he began publishing with his apprentice, John Bennett (fl. 1770 - 1784), as Sayer and Bennett, but the partnership was not formalized until 1777. Bennett retired in 1784 following a mental collapse and the imprint reverted to Robert Sayer. From 1790, Sayer added Robert Laurie and James Whittle to his enterprise, renaming the firm Robert Sayer and Company. Ultimately, Laurie and Whittle partnered to take over his firm. Sayer retired to Bath, where, after a long illness, he died. During most of his career, Sayer was based at 53 Fleet Street, London. His work is particularly significant for its publication of many British maps relating to the American Revolutionary War. Unlike many map makers of his generation, Sayer was a good businessman and left a personal fortune and great estate to his son, James Sayer, who never worked in the publishing business. Learn More...