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MAP #: 182S5

CARTOGRAPHER : SELLER, JOHN

DATE: 1682

SHORT TITLE : VIRGINIA AND MARYLAND

REMAINING TITLE & ID : BY I. SELLER (OVAL CARTOUCHE, BOTTOM RIGHT CORNER). "A ELIZABETH B LOWER NORFOLK C NORTHAMPTON" (IN RECTANGULAR BOX JUST BELOW CARTOUCHE). SCALE OF 40 ENGLISH MILES (TOP LEFT). 4 POINTED COMPASS ROSE (RIGHT, ABOVE CENTER). THE REVERSE SIDE IS BLANK. LONGITUDE (POSSIBLY EAST FROM FERRO, TOP AND BOTTOM BORDERS). LATITUDE (RIGHT AND LEFT BORDERS).

DATE OF PUBLICATION : S1682
PLACE OF PUBLICATION : LONDON
PUBLISHER : JOHN SELLER
LANGUAGE(S) : EN
SIZE (HEIGHT X WIDTH) : 11.9 X 14.3 CM.
SIZE - OTHER DATA : 14.4 X 17.0 CM. OM
SCALE - (RF) 1: : 3,450,000
SCALE - OTHER DATA : 40 ENG. MI. = 2.2 CM.
LIB. OF CONGRESS # : -
Md. HALL OF RECORDS # 1 : G1399-24
HUNTINGFIELD ACQ. # 1 : C019-UGD
REGION CATEGORY : GENERAL MAP WITH MD/CHESAPEAKE AS ONE MAIN FOCUS (1)
SPECIAL CATEGORY(IES) : AUGUSTINE HERRMAN DERIVATIVE (12)
# SHEETS TO MAP : 1
MAP ORIENTATION : N IS AT THE TOP OF THE MAP
RELIEF SHOWN ? : YES
HYDROGRAPHIC DATA : SHOALS ARE SHOWN BY DOTTED LINE.
CARTOUCHE : SIMPLE PLASTERWORK (14)
BORDER : GEOGRAPHICALLY FUNCTIONAL (8)
PRIME MERIDIAN(S) : MERIDIAN UNSPECIFIED, BUT PROBABLY FERRO (27)
BEST INFO SOURCE : VERNER'S ARTICLE IN THE COMPLEAT PLATTMAKER IS THE BEST FOUND.
DESCRIPTION : THIS MINIATURE MAP COVERS THE AREA FROM NEAR PHILADELPHIA TO CAPE HENRY AND ENCOMPASSES THE WHOLE OF THE CHESAPEAKE BAY. IT APPEARED IN SELLER'S RARE ATLAS MARITIMUS OR A SEA-ATLAS, LONDON, PRINTED BY A GOODBID AND J. PLAYFORD, 1682. IN THE MAP, SELLERS IDENTIFIED THREE COUNTIES BY LETTER SYMBOLS. THIS IS SIMILAR TO THE DEVICE USED BY ROBERT MORDEN AND VERNER THINKS THE MAP IS PROBABLY COPIED FROM HIM. BOTH, OF COURSE, ARE BASED ON AUGUSTINE HERRMAN.

IN 1675, SELLER PUBLISHED HIS FIRST ATLAS MARITIMUS. IN 1679, WM. FISHER, JOHN THORNTON, JOHN COLSON AND JAMES ATKINSON BECAME COPARTNERS WITH SELLER AND REISSUED THE ATLAS MARITIMUS. IN 1679, WM. FISHER OBTAINED THE RIGHTS TO THE ATLAS MARITIMUS. JAMES ATKINSON PUBLISHED HIS OWN VERSION OF THE ATLAS. AFTER THE COMBINE BROKE UP, SELLER CONCENTRATED ON PUBLISHING MOSTLY MINIATURE EDITIONS OF HIS EARLIER WORKS. THE ATLAS MARITIMUS OF 1682 WAS SUCH A EFFORT.

ANOTHER ISSUE OF THIS MAP WAS CONTAINED IN JOHN SELLER'S AN ALMANACK FOR THE PROVINCES OF VIRGINIA & MARYLAND..., LONDON, SOLD BY THE AUTHOR AT THE HERMITAGE IN WAPPING, 1684-1685 ON PAGES 52-53. VERNER ALSO CITES RELEASES IN 1690 IN SELLER'S HYDROGRAPHIA UNIVERSALIS, OR A BOOK OF MARITIME CHARTS, LONDON, 1690 (COPY IN THE L.C.) AND IN 1700 IN SELLER'S ATLAS TERRESTIS: OR A BOOK OF MAPPS, LONDON, 1700?, VOL. 2, MAP # 43 (COPY IN THE L.C.).

SELLER WAS IMPORTANTLY RESPONSIBLE FOR SHIFTING THE SEA CHART BUSINESS TO ENGLAND AND AWAY FROM THE DUTCH, ALTHOUGH HE OFTEN USED OLD WORN OUT DUTCH COPPERPLATES, WHICH CARTOGRAPHICALLY WERE OUT OF DATE. HE WAS NOT VERY SUCCESSFUL FINANCIALLY, AND HIS LIMITED RESOURCES FURTHER RESTRICTED HIS ABILITY TO COMPETE AS THE SEA CHART BUSINESS BECAME ESTABLISHED IN ENGLAND. SELLER WAS HYDROGRAPHER TO THE KING AND WAS THE AUTHOR OF THE FIRST ENGLISH SEA ATLAS, THE ENGLISH PILOT IN 1671-2.

DATA IS FROM COOLIE VERNER'S ARTICLE IN THROWER'S THE COMPLEAT PLATTMAKER, FROM ELIZABETH BAER'S SEVENTEENTH CENTURY MARYLAND, FROM VERNER'S NOTES AND FROM PERSONAL OBSERVATION.

EDITION & STATE INFO : WRITER HAS ONLY SEEN THE ISSUE OF THIS MAP THAT WAS INCLUDED IN THE 1682 ATLAS MARITIMUS. AT LEAST THREE OTHER ISSUES OF THE MAP OCCURRED THROUGH 1700, BUT THE LATER RELEASES HAVE NOT BEEN EXAMINED TO DETERMINE WHETHER THEY ARE THE SAME EDITION AND/OR STATE AS THE FIRST, DESCRIBED HEREIN.

HFC OWNERSHIP DATA : THE HUNTINGFIELD COLLECTION HAS A GOOD COPY OF THIS MAP IN ORIGINAL OUTLINE COLORING. IT HAS A MDHR # OF G1399-24 AND AN ACQ. # OF C019-UGD.

BIBLIGRAPHICAL REFS. : ROBINSON, MARINE CARTOGRAPHY IN BRITAIN, 37,53,71,89,115-17;VERNER, COOLIE, "JOHN SELLER AND THE CHART TRADE IN SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY ENGLAND", THE COMPLEAT PLATTMAKER, NORMAN THROWER, ED. BERKELEY: UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS, 1978, 18, 127-157; VERNER, COOLIE, INTRODUCTION TO THE ENGLISH PILOT, FOURTH BOOK, CHARLOTTESVILLE: UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA PRESS, 1960,; BAER, ELIZABETH, SEVENTEENTH CENTURY MARYLAND A BIBLIOGRAPHY, BALTIMORE: THE JOHN WORK GARRETT LIBRARY, 1949, # 104, 111-112, ILLUS. 112; SABIN, JOSEPH, A DICTIONARY OF BOOKS RELATING TO AMERICA, NEW YORK: JOSEPH SABIN, 1868-1936, # 79023; THE WORLD ENCOMPASSED, BALTIMORE: WALTERS ART GALLERY, 1952, # 193; VERNER, COOLIE, UNPUBLISHED NOTES ON THE MAPS OF VIRGINIA; SWEM, EARL G. "MAPS RELATING TO VIRGINIA IN THE VIRGINIA STATE LIBRARY...", BULLETIN OF THE VIRGINIA STATE LIBRARY V. 7, NOS. 2 AND 3, RICHMOND: VIRGINIA STATE LIBRARY, 1914, # 112 (1690), # 124 (1700).

November 18, 1989


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