The 18th Century World in Your Pocket, a
Remarkably Well-Preserved Contemporary Copy

(ATLAS - MINIATURE). GIBSON, JOHN, Engraver. BOWEN, EMANUEL.

ATLAS MINIMUS, OR A NEW SET OF POCKET MAPS OF THE SEVERAL EMPIRES, KINGDOMS AND STATES OF THE KNOWN WORLD. WITH HISTORICAL EXTRACTS RELATIVE TO EACH.

(London: Publish'd . . . & Sold by J. Newbery, 1758). 114 x 89 mm (4 1/2 x 3 1/2"). 4 p.l., followed by maps. Edited by Emanuel Bowen, Royal Geographer. FIRST EDITION, Second Issue.

APPEALING CONTEMPORARY POLISHED CALF, raised bands, original red morocco title label. ENGRAVED THROUGHOUT, with frontispiece (featuring three cherubs around a large globe), title, preface leaf, index leaf, and 52 CHARMING MAPS HAND COLORED IN OUTLINE (as called for in the index). Title page with early owner's ink inscription at the top, mostly effaced. Phillips 621; NMM III, 306 (listed under Emanuel Bowen); Moreland & Bannister, p. 171; Welsh, "History of Miniature Books," p. 85. One very small hole at bottom of rear joint, small loss of patina to leather in three places (no doubt because of insects), corners just a bit bent, but the binding completely solid, still lustrous, and showing only minimal wear. Two maps with tiny, faint spot (one of them marginal), but AN EXTREMELY FINE COPY, THE MAPS CONSISTENTLY CLEAN, FRESH, AND BRIGHT.

This delightful book of maps, about the size of a pack of cards, enabled an 18th century reader, probably an adolescent, to carry the world in his pocket. It opens with a twin-hemispherical world map, followed by five continental maps, and then maps of the countries and regions within the continents. Of special interest are the maps of the European settlements in the New World--there are 16 maps of the Americas in all--as well as those of exotic locales, including "Negroland" (i.e., West Africa). The preface informs us that the volume comprises "a comprehensive view of the several parts of the globe, with historical extracts on each map," these "extracts" being accounts, amounting to about 50 words each, that include information about the population, government, natural resources, and religion of the region. The publishers also state that they anticipate a commercial acceptance of the work because "no other epitome of this kind has been offered to the publick [in a form] so convenient for the pocket." (This may not have been strictly true, since in 1747, Lobeck issued a miniature atlas engraved by Lotter, and it remained popular for many years, being used, just as ours no doubt was, by pupils learning basic geography.) John Gibson (fl. 1750-92) was an important 18th century British cartographer and engraver who produced thousands of maps, but the "Atlas Minimus" was his magnum opus. He is also of interest to us today as the engraver who produced the four-sheet map of North America after the Treaty of Paris. Gibson worked with Emanuel Bowen (1693/4–1767) on both our atlas and the Treaty of Paris Map. According to DNB, Bowen made a substantial "contribution to 18th century world and British atlases" as well as "engraved charts for some of the leading hydrographers of his day," and he produced a considerable amount of material for periodicals. He also had "the distinction of being geographer to George II from about 1747 and, according to many sources (particularly Chubb), geographer to Louis XV of France." The descriptive extracts described above are characteristic of his work. While copies of the present item appear in the marketplace from time to time, one would be hard pressed to find a copy in better condition than what is seen here. (ST11498)