Pitt, Moses (sold)
Moses Pitt (c. 1631 - 1697) was one of the largest British book publishers, printers, and booksellers of the second half of the 17th century. A very ambitious man whose plans eventually led to bankruptcy, Pitt was a small bookseller and publisher before he embarked on some enormous, very expensive ventures. The largest was the English Atlas, which he intended to contain 900 pages of text and 600 plates in eleven volumes, in partnership with Jan Jansson's heir Johannes Waesberger. The first volume was published in 1680, but rising costs meant that only four volumes were completed. Pitt's ambitions did not stop there, as he began a huge property speculation scheme in Westminster and took over the printing office of Oxford University. By 1685, however, he was forced to sell off much of his stock at auction, which marked the end of his print publishing. His final bankruptcy and arrest for debt happened in 1689, and he spent the following eight years in prison, only to be released shortly before his death. In 1691, Pitt published The Cry of the Oppressed: Being a True and Tragical Account of the Unparallel'd Sufferings of Multitudes of Poor Imprison'd Debtors In Most of the Gaols in England, an appeal on behalf of people imprisoned for debt.
A revolution the mapping of Japan.
A Mapp of the Isles of Iapon. / Map of Tunquin.
sold
- Digital Map Information
- Suitable for large format printing
- DPI: 600
- File Size: 26.04 MB
- File Type: ZIP / TIFF
- ICC color profile embedded
- Delivered instantly via download link
An extremely rare work, this is the 1680 map of Japan and Vietnam (Tonkin) that accompanied the Moses Pitt edition of the travels of Daniel and Jean-Baptiste Tavernier. It is a seminal work, being among the first European maps of Japan (and Vietnam) based upon actual reconnaissance. (more details)