John Seller - John-Thornton

Earliest English sea chart of the East Coast of Africa : 
A Chart of the WESTERN part of the EAST=INDIES with all the Aejacent Islands from Cape Bona Esperanca to Cape Comorin. By John Thornton, John Seller, William Fisher, James Atkinson, John Colson.

Original copperplate printed map:
43 x 53.8 cm
Map #AFS-154  
$2,250.  

Click Here for Large Image
 

 
This sea chart appeared in John Seller's Atlas Maritimus or a Book of Charts ..., first published in 1675.  This sea-atlas by Seller (1630? - 1697) was completely composite, that is, only assembled according to the wish of the individual purchaser rather than to a standard format.  These are the first sea charts of the world to be published in England.  

Unfortunately, Seller's efforts were unsuccessful, owing in part to the numerous ventures he undertook at the same time and the lack of a broad English market for his terrestrial and sea atlases.  In 1677 bankruptcy was averted only by Seller entering into partnership with a consortium of interested parties, principally William Fisher, a leading printer and seller of navigation books, and John Thornton (1641-1708), the official hydrographer to the English East India Company and a noted manuscript chartmaker who was beginning to make the successful transition into the printed chart trade.  When the partnership was dissolved in 1679, Fisher retained the publishing rights for Seller's two main sea-atlases, English Pilot for the Southern Navigation and the Atlas Maritimus, and also took some copperplates and some of the stock of printed sheets.  Thornton also received some of Seller's stock of copperplates.

This map first appeared in 1675 only under the name of Seller with Francis Lamb as the engraver.  The chart also had a dedicatory cartouche for the East India Company to the left of the title cartouche.  This particular chart appeared in John Thornton's Atlas Maritimus of 1700.  In this issue, Thornton's name supersedes that of Seller.  There were later states of this chart with appearances up to 1761 in the English Pilot.  The changes mostly reflect changes in the ownership of the copperplate, particularly by John Thornton's brother, Samuel, or in the printing location.

The chart shows a wide area of the Indian Ocean, and its island groups, from the Cape of Good Hope to the tip of India on the Malabar coast.  The title cartouche has a north African and an African with children on either side of the title screen with the coat of arms of the East India Company and the sun as a face with a halo of it's rays.  Two elaborate compass roses are shown.  Below in the center is a scale with French and Spanish leagues and Dutch miles.

Reference:  Tooley. Maps of Africa. p. 106.  Klemp. Africa on Maps. p. 53. Map #71.   Charts. Susanna Fisher. # 58. Item 112. 1988.

Very Good, Bottom margin strengthened on verso with some tissue.  Margins trimmed close, but complete, as issued.