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1775 Sayer and Bennett Map of the English Colonies in America (Revolutionary War)
NorthAmericanColonies-sayerbennett-1775$550.00
Title
North America from the French of Mr. D'Anville improved with The English Surveys made since the Peace.
1775 (dated) 19 x 21 in (48.26 x 53.34 cm) 1 : 6350000
1775 (dated) 19 x 21 in (48.26 x 53.34 cm) 1 : 6350000
Description
This is the 1775 Sayer and Bennett edition of Thomas Jefferys' map of the British Colonies in America, published on the eve of the American Revolutionary War (1775 - 1783). When this map was issued in June 1775, the Battles of Lexington and Concord had already occurred, and a formal Declaration of War from the Continental Congress was imminent.
The New England Colonies exhibit a pre-war configuration, predating the formation of Vermont and the settling of Maine's boundaries. Likewise, in the Mid-Atlantic, Quebec extends well south into what is today New York to encompass most of Lake Champlain. Pennsylvania's western boundary is set east of Fort Du Quesne (Pittsburgh). Maryland, Delaware, and New Jersey conform mostly to modern boundaries. The southern colonies, including Virginia, North and South Carolina, and Georgia, exhibit indistinct western boundaries, reflecting their original coast-to-coast grants and territorial ambiguity, but British claims, in general, end at the Mississippi, the border with Spanish Louisiana. Florida is divided into West and East Florida; both are British territories, though they maintained a wild west character with limited governance.
True to its origins in Jefferys' 1775 map, significant sites from the French and Indian War are named and annotated, but appropriately, all reference to French claims have been removed.
A Closer Look
Coverage embraces British claims in North America after the French and Indian War (1754 - 1763), extending from the Mississippi River to the Atlantic and from Hudson Bay to Florida, thus encompassing the seat of the impending American Revolutionary War.The New England Colonies exhibit a pre-war configuration, predating the formation of Vermont and the settling of Maine's boundaries. Likewise, in the Mid-Atlantic, Quebec extends well south into what is today New York to encompass most of Lake Champlain. Pennsylvania's western boundary is set east of Fort Du Quesne (Pittsburgh). Maryland, Delaware, and New Jersey conform mostly to modern boundaries. The southern colonies, including Virginia, North and South Carolina, and Georgia, exhibit indistinct western boundaries, reflecting their original coast-to-coast grants and territorial ambiguity, but British claims, in general, end at the Mississippi, the border with Spanish Louisiana. Florida is divided into West and East Florida; both are British territories, though they maintained a wild west character with limited governance.
True to its origins in Jefferys' 1775 map, significant sites from the French and Indian War are named and annotated, but appropriately, all reference to French claims have been removed.
Historical Context
In 1775, when this map was issued, tensions between the British government and its American colonies reached a breaking point. Disagreements stemmed from issues such as the Stamp Act, Townshend Acts, and the Tea Act, which imposed taxes and regulations without colonial representation in Parliament. The Boston Massacre (1770) and the Boston Tea Party (1773) fueled anger and resistance. In response, Britain enacted the Coercive Acts, further escalating tensions. The First Continental Congress convened in 1774, and by April 1775, the Battles of Lexington and Concord marked the war's outbreak. Interest in America was high throughout Europe, and Sayer and Bennet were keen to capitalize. They compiled and collated a new work, The American Atlas, from old and updated Thomas Jefferys maps. The American Atlas proved to be the essential cartographic representation of America used by all sides throughout the war.Publication History and Census
The map can trace its origins to the French and Indian War when Thomas Jefferys issued the 1755 first edition, amended with a list of French encroachments on British territory, which appeared at the base. A second state was issued, with the French and Indian War text removed, and a third, as here, in 1775 by Robert Sayer and John Bennett to capitalize on British interest in the fomenting unrest in the North American colonies. It appeared in the 1776 edition of The American Atlas and was updated for subsequent editions through the remainder of the 18th century. Both the atlas and the separate map are uncommon on the market but are well-represented in institutional collections.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. More by this mapmaker...
John Bennett (1746 - December 8, 1787) was an English map publisher. He was born in Derbyshire, the son of Tideswell shoemaker Samuel Bennett. He moved to London around 1761 to take work as a servant to the mapmaker Robert Sayer (1725 - 1794). In 1765, he became Sayer's formal apprentice. Bennett entered the Free Stationers guild on June 7, 1774. Bennett and Sayer continued to work together on the understanding that, in time, Bennett would acquire equity in the firm. This occurred in 1777, when the firm was renamed 'Sayer and Bennett'. For the next several years, they ran one of the most prolific map and printmaking firms in Europe. Bennett began to show signs of mental instability around 1781 and by 1783, was admitted to an asylum in Clapton. The causes are unknown, but mercury poising is a real possibility. Sayer petitioned to dissolve the partnership in 1784 and by 1785 there are no further publications bearing the 'Bennett' imprint. He died in Islington in 1787. Learn More...
Jean Baptiste Bourguignon d'Anville (1697 - 1782) was perhaps the most important and prolific cartographer of the 18th century. D'Anville's passion for cartography manifested during his school years when he amused himself by composing maps for Latin texts. There is a preserved manuscript dating to 1712, Graecia Vetus, which may be his earliest surviving map - he was only 15 when he drew it. He would retain an interest in the cartography of antiquity throughout his long career and published numerous atlases to focusing on the ancient world. At twenty-two D'Anville, sponsored by the Duke of Orleans, was appointed Geographer to the King of France. As both a cartographer and a geographer, he instituted a reform in the general practice of cartography. Unlike most period cartographers, D'Anville did not rely exclusively on earlier maps to inform his work, rather he based his maps on intense study and research. His maps were thus the most accurate and comprehensive of his period - truly the first modern maps. Thomas Basset and Philip Porter write: "It was because of D'Anville's resolve to depict only those features which could be proven to be true that his maps are often said to represent a scientific reformation in cartography." (The Journal of African History, Vol. 32, No. 3 (1991), pp. 367-413). In 1754, when D'Anville turned 57 and had reached the height of his career, he was elected to the Academie des Inscriptions. Later, at 76, following the death of Philippe Buache, D'Anville was appointed to both of the coveted positions Buache held: Premier Geographe du Roi, and Adjoint-Geographer of the Academie des Sciences. During his long career D'Anville published some 211 maps as well as 78 treatises on geography. D'Anville's vast reference library, consisting of over 9000 volumes, was acquired by the French government in 1779 and became the basis of the Depot Geographique - though D'Anville retained physical possession his death in 1782. Remarkably almost all of D'Anville's maps were produced by his own hand. His published maps, most of which were engraved by Guillaume de la Haye, are known to be near exact reproductions of D'Anville' manuscripts. The borders as well as the decorative cartouche work present on many of his maps were produced by his brother Hubert-Francois Bourguignon Gravelot. The work of D'Anville thus marked a transitional point in the history of cartography and opened the way to the maps of English cartographers Cary, Thomson and Pinkerton in the early 19th century. Learn More...
Source
Sayer, R., Bennett, J., and Jefferys, T., The American Atlas: Or, A Geographical Description Of The Whole Continent Of America ... Engraved On Forty-Eight Copper Plates, By The Late Mr. Thomas Jefferys, Geographer to the King, and Others, (London: Sayer and Bennett) 1776.
Thomas Jefferys' The American Atlas is among the most important atlases of American issued during and after the American Revolutionary War (1775 - 1783). Burden calls it 'arguably the first American 'state' atlas' and Ristow writes, it is a '… major cartographic reference work it was very likely consulted by American, English and French civilian administrators and military officers during the Revolution…' It was first published in 1775, with updates following in 1776, 1778, 1782, 1794, and 1800. All editions are notably postdate Jefferys himself, who died in 1771. The application of his name to the The American Atlas is mostly an honorific - though most of the constituent maps can be traced to Jefferys' work. After Jefferys' death, his map plates were acquired by his partner, printseller Robert Sayer. By the mid-1770s Sayer had taken on John Bennett as a partner. Together, they compiled and updated many of Jefferys' map, published as the to capitalize on interest in America associated with the Revolution. Maps from the The American Atlas exhbit is considerable date variation, with some featuring dates later than the title page, suggesting that many were updated by owners in subsequent years, and/or that the title page was reused for latter editions.
Condition
Good. Some foxing. Slight printing offset, evident in scan, but hard to notice in person. Measurements represented printed areas. Wide margins, up to 4 inches, all around.
References
Rumsey 0346.009.