Thomas Jefferys (1719-71) was arguably the most important English cartographer during the eighteenth century. A publisher, engraver, author and geographer of some note he was appointed Geographer to Frederick Prince of Wales in 1748, and later to King George III. It was during the Seven Years’ War that Jefferys made a name for himself as an authority on North American cartography. His other great contribution was in English County cartography being involved with a number of county atlases. But it was his large-scale maps of the counties that extended his finances too far. His map of Devonshire in 1765 won the first ever prize of £100 offered by the Royal Society of Arts. By 1766 he was forced into bankruptcy. To survive Jefferys entered partnerships, the most important of which was with the London map and printseller Robert Sayer. He stated that with the help of ‘some Friends who have been compassionate enough to re-instate me in my Shop’ he continued in business.

Robert Sayer (ca. 1724-1794) was a prominent London map publisher. Robert’s father was a lawyer, but his older brother married Mary Overton, the widow of prominent mapmaker Philip Overton and the proprietor of his shop after his death. Mary continued the business for roughly a year after her marriage and then, in early 1748, it passed to Robert. He became a freeman of the Stationers’ Company later that year; his first advertisement as an independent publisher was released in December.

Sayer benefited from Overton’s considerable stock, which included the plates of John Senex. In the 1750s, Sayer specialized in design books and topographical prints, as well as comic mezzotints. Sayer’s business continued to grow. In 1760 he moved further down Fleet Street to larger premises at 53 Fleet Street. In 1766, he acquired Thomas Jefferys’ stock when the latter went bankrupt. In 1774, he entered into a partnership with John Bennett, his former apprentice. The pair specialized in American atlases, based on the work of Jefferys. They also began publishing navigational maps and quickly became the largest supplier of British charts in the trade.

This particular chart is one of the more desirable from the first edition of the ‘East-India Pilot, or Oriental Navigator’, considered by Shirley to be their ‘most substantial compilation’. It incorporated the work of the latest map makers such as Alexander Dalrymple and d’Apres de Mannevillette. Examples of the atlas extremely rare and when seen are usually black and white; this example is in magnificent early wash colour and printed on superb thick paper.

The map takes in not only the whole Indian Ocean but extends from Korea and Japan in the north, south to include the whole of Australia. The latter still too early to depict Bass Strait with ‘Tasmania’ but does record Captain James Cook’s arrival there in 1770. ‘Great Bay’ notes Botany Bay. Although many errors were perpetuated here. To the north ‘New Guinea’ and ‘Papua’ are illustrated as two independent islands. Despite this error it is the first map to name the Torres Strait.

A very fine example of a chart we are unable to trace a record of on the market for since 1988. Provenance: Susanna Fisher, 1988; private English collection. Owned jointly with Barry Ruderman. Clancy (1995) p. 114; NMM 417 (vol. 2 only lacking this chart; Shirley ‘Atlases in the British Library’ M.Say 1a nos. 2 & 7, 3a no. 23; Sotheby’s Wardington sale 10.10.2006 lot 443 (later edition); Tooley Tasmania no. 69.