World map on Mercator's Projection showing the latest discoveries by Captains Cook & Vancouver in the Pacific. Antarctica has yet to be discovered.


Born in 1755, John Cary was an important member of a group of late 18th century and early 19th century English map makers who pushed the boundaries of geographical knowledge in an unprecedented wave of discovery and scholarship integrated with a shrewd commercial sense. Among his contemporaries were William Faden, William Heather, John Thomson, Thomas Bowen and John Pinkerton. He employed a young Aaron Arrowsmith as a surveyor in 1784.



The early part of his career was spent preparing and publishing his English county atlases to great success. He also had an interest in the mapping of the newly developing road network in England which led to him being appointed as Surveyor of Roads to the General Post Office in 1794. Therefore it is not surprising that he did not publish his first atlas of the world until 1808 in the form of his "New Universal Atlas". Very much in the style of his colleague Aaron Arrowsmith, Cary admired clarity and accuracy above all. His maps are models of neat, beautifully engraved, easily accessible pieces of cartography. Driven by these features, the atlas became yet another commercial success for Cary, going through several editions before his eventual retirement in 1820.



This map of the world on Mercator's Projection was based on a combination of geographical knowledge available in London during this period, including the wall maps by Aaron Arrowsmith, the cartographic surveys of India by James Rennell, the exploration of West Africa by Mungo Park, the extraordinary voyages of the Canadian explorers, Alexander MacKenzie and Samuel Hearne among several others. Comparatively, this map is also clearer than many others published contemporaneously, showing the lack of knowledge of many areas of the world, especially the interiors of Africa, Arabia and Australia. Finally, Cary adds several important marine voyages to complement some of the interior exploration. These include those of Cook, Vancouver and Captain Gore, who took command after Cook's death in Hawaii in 1779.



Original hand colour. [WLD4595]