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JOHN MOUNT (1725-1786), THOMAS PAGE III (1730-1781) AND WILLIAM MOUNT II (1753-1815)
The English Pilot. The Fourth Book describing the West-India Navigation, from Hudson's Bay to the River Amazones. London: J. Mount, T. Page, and W. Mount, 1775. 2° (478 x 308mm). 22 engraved charts, all but one double-page, of which 11 folding, 4 engraved maps in the text, numerous woodcut coastal profiles throughout. (A couple of plates with heavy plate tone, a few with weak impressions, two with faint offsetting, one with minor insignificant spotting, a couple lightly creased, with a few edges dust-soiled and frayed.) Contemporary panelled sheep (covers bowed, long split to lower joint, extremities rubbed, small patches of abrasion). Provenance: Sir Hyde Parker, 5th baronet (1714–1782/3): 8 documents deriving from his voyage as Rear-Admiral to the North American station aboard the Royal Oak, 23 October - 9 November 1788, comprising 7 notes of sailing directions signed by James Raymond, giving courses off Sandy Hook and Cape Cod, and a sick list for the Royal Oak, signed by W. Pettigrew (noting complaints including 'Flux', 'Fevrish & pains' and 'Ven[erea]l', the remainder noted as 'Recovering'), various sizes, loosely inserted.
'THE FIRST SIGNIFICANT COLLECTION OF CHARTS EXCLUSIVELY OF THE AMERICAN COASTS TO BE PUBLISHED IN ENGLAND' (Cumming, p.9). The series of English Pilot books was started in 1671 by John Seller, whose charts derived from the Dutch pilot books of Pieter Goos. 'Seller's English Pilot initiated the independent production of pilot books in England which ultimately overcame Dutch predominance' (Koeman, IV, p. xiii). 'For British trading in North America and for the colonists there, the publication of The English Pilot: The Fourth Book must have been a godsend. For the first time an English sea atlas presented charts of the whole eastern seacoast of North America. To modern eyes the charts are crude and sparse of detail; but to the navigator of American waters in that period, it was his Bible. Whatever its shortcomings, there was really no substitute, no real competitor, for over sixty years' (William P. Cumming, British Maps of Colonial America, Chicago & London 1974, p.39).
This work was in such high demand that 37 editions were published from 1689 to 1794, as were three pirated editions. During the history of publication, the charts went through numerous changes, starting with the addition to the 18 charts in the first edition to an eventual 26 in the final (this edition has 22). Nearly every chart in the Fourth Book was reworked and charts were added and replaced by more accurate charts with subsequent editions. Verner notes that 64 different chart titles have been recorded from the editions he examined. Due to its practical nature and use, copies of all editions are quite rare. See Phillips Atlases 1164; Sabin 22616; Verner Bibliography of the Fourth Book of the English Pilot 31 (with slight variant imprint stating that another T. Page (probably Thomas Page IV, d.1797) has entered the firm.
The English Pilot. The Fourth Book describing the West-India Navigation, from Hudson's Bay to the River Amazones. London: J. Mount, T. Page, and W. Mount, 1775. 2° (478 x 308mm). 22 engraved charts, all but one double-page, of which 11 folding, 4 engraved maps in the text, numerous woodcut coastal profiles throughout. (A couple of plates with heavy plate tone, a few with weak impressions, two with faint offsetting, one with minor insignificant spotting, a couple lightly creased, with a few edges dust-soiled and frayed.) Contemporary panelled sheep (covers bowed, long split to lower joint, extremities rubbed, small patches of abrasion). Provenance: Sir Hyde Parker, 5th baronet (1714–1782/3): 8 documents deriving from his voyage as Rear-Admiral to the North American station aboard the Royal Oak, 23 October - 9 November 1788, comprising 7 notes of sailing directions signed by James Raymond, giving courses off Sandy Hook and Cape Cod, and a sick list for the Royal Oak, signed by W. Pettigrew (noting complaints including 'Flux', 'Fevrish & pains' and 'Ven[erea]l', the remainder noted as 'Recovering'), various sizes, loosely inserted.
'THE FIRST SIGNIFICANT COLLECTION OF CHARTS EXCLUSIVELY OF THE AMERICAN COASTS TO BE PUBLISHED IN ENGLAND' (Cumming, p.9). The series of English Pilot books was started in 1671 by John Seller, whose charts derived from the Dutch pilot books of Pieter Goos. 'Seller's English Pilot initiated the independent production of pilot books in England which ultimately overcame Dutch predominance' (Koeman, IV, p. xiii). 'For British trading in North America and for the colonists there, the publication of The English Pilot: The Fourth Book must have been a godsend. For the first time an English sea atlas presented charts of the whole eastern seacoast of North America. To modern eyes the charts are crude and sparse of detail; but to the navigator of American waters in that period, it was his Bible. Whatever its shortcomings, there was really no substitute, no real competitor, for over sixty years' (William P. Cumming, British Maps of Colonial America, Chicago & London 1974, p.39).
This work was in such high demand that 37 editions were published from 1689 to 1794, as were three pirated editions. During the history of publication, the charts went through numerous changes, starting with the addition to the 18 charts in the first edition to an eventual 26 in the final (this edition has 22). Nearly every chart in the Fourth Book was reworked and charts were added and replaced by more accurate charts with subsequent editions. Verner notes that 64 different chart titles have been recorded from the editions he examined. Due to its practical nature and use, copies of all editions are quite rare. See Phillips Atlases 1164; Sabin 22616; Verner Bibliography of the Fourth Book of the English Pilot 31 (with slight variant imprint stating that another T. Page (probably Thomas Page IV, d.1797) has entered the firm.
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