1794 Laurie and Whittle Map of the United States of America: Early Flag Image

Featuring the Guif of Mexico and Lake Ontario!

A striking 1794 Laurie and Whittle map of the newly independent United States, capturing North America's transformation in the turbulent decades between the American Revolution (1775 - 1783) and the War of 1812 (1812 - 1815). Most remarkable is its magnificent title cartouche, surmounted by one of the earliest printed representations of the thirteen-star American flag - a bold visual declaration of the new republic's place on the world stage.

A Closer Look

The map spans from the Gulf of Mexico in the south and reaches as far north as Hudson's Bay, Labrador, and Newfoundland. The border between the United States and Canada is marked with a dotted line through Lake Superior, Lake Huron, Lake Erie, and Lake Ontario. British Canada, inclusive of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, is colored with the traditional pink of British territory. Spanish Florida is colored in Yellow. While the map's cartouche describes Louisiana as a Spanish territory, the original coloring indicates that territory as part of the United States, reflecting the 1803 Louisiana Purchase. Since the map's woven paper is watermarked 1812, the coloring is correct. Within the United States, Pennsylvania's northern border extends to Lake Ontario and includes the Finger Lakes. The State of Vermont is named. The map is embellished with an elegant cartouche, surmounted by the Flag of the United States, displaying 13 stars.

Publication History and Census

The map was initially engraved by Thomas Jefferys in 1755, then entitled North America from the French of Mr. D'Anville improved with the Back Settlements of Virginia and Course of Ohio. Three further issues followed, incorporating various changes, under the imprints of Robert Sayer, and Sayer and Bennett. In 1794, Laurie and Whittle produced the present engraving, updating the map after the American Revolution. Tooley indicates two further issues of 1803 and 1808, distinguishable from the 1794 only by their watermarks. The present example is identical to Tooley's 1794 state, but the map's woven paper is watermarked 'J. Whatman, 1812'. We see three examples of this state in OCLC; the map appears on the market from time to time, although examples of this beauty are increasingly difficult to find.

Cartographers

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.   Further Details...

Laurie and Whittle (fl. 1794 - 1858) were London, England, based map and atlas publishers active in the late 18th and early 19th century. Generally considered to be the successors to the Robert Sayer firm, Laurie and Whittle was founded by Robert Laurie (c. 1755 - 1836) and James Whittle (1757-1818). Robert Laurie was a skilled mezzotint engraver and is known to have worked with Robert Sayer on numerous projects. James Whittle was a well-known London socialite and print seller whose Fleet Street shop was a popular haunt for intellectual luminaries. The partnership began taking over the general management of Sayer's firm around 1787; however, they did not alter the Sayer imprint until after Sayer's death in 1794. Apparently Laurie did most of the work in managing the firm and hence his name appeared first in the "Laurie and Whittle" imprint. Together Laurie and Whittle published numerous maps and atlases, often bringing in other important cartographers of the day, including Kitchin, Faden, Jefferys and others to update and modify their existing Sayer plates. Robert Laurie retired in 1812, leaving the day to day management of the firm to his son, Richard Holmes Laurie (1777 - 1858). Under R. H. Laurie and James Whittle, the firm renamed itself "Whittle and Laurie". Whittle himself died six years later in 1818, and thereafter the firm continued under the imprint of "R. H. Laurie". After R. H. Laurie's death the publishing house and its printing stock came under control of Alexander George Findlay, who had long been associated with Laurie and Whittle. Since, Laurie and Whittle has passed through numerous permeations, with part of the firm still extant as an English publisher of maritime or nautical charts, 'Imray, Laurie, Norie and Wilson Ltd.' The firm remains the oldest surviving chart publisher in Europe.   Further Details...

Thomas Kitchin (August 4, 1718 – June 23, 1784) was a London based engraver, cartographer, and publisher. He was born in London to a hat-dyer of the same name. At 14, Kitchin apprenticed under Emanuel Bowen, under whom he mastered the art of engraving. He married Bowen daughter, Sarah Bowen, and later inherited much of his preceptor's prosperous business. Their son, Thomas Bowen Kitchin, also an engraver joined the family business, which thereafter published in Thomas Kitchin and Son. From 1858 or so Kitchin was the engraver to the Duke of York, and from about 1773 acquired the title, 'Royal Hydrographer to King George III.' He is responsible for numerous maps published in the The Star, Gentleman's Magazine, and London Magazine, as well as partnering with, at various times, with Thomas Jefferys, Emmanuel Bowen, Thomas Hinton, Issac Tayor, Andrew Dury, John Rocque, Louis de la Rochette, and Alexander Hogg, among others. Kitchin passed his business on to his son, Thomas Bowen Kitchin, who continued to republish many of his maps well after his death. Kitchin's apprentices included George Rollos, Bryant Lodge, Thomas Bowen Kitchin, Samuel Turner Sparrow, John Page, and Francis Vivares.   Further Details...

Source

Kitchin, T., A New Universal Atlas, (London: Laurie and Whittle) 1794 - c. 1812.    

Condition

Excellent. Faint dampstain to margins, else fine with original hand color.

References

OCLC 38763901. Not in Rumsey. Tooley, R., The Mapping of America 51 e, pp. 84-85.