79 Samuel J Neele / James Cundee 1812
Samuel John Neele (1758-1824) and his son Josiah (d.1845) were well-known engravers in the Strand who produced work for many publishers. Working sometimes with George and James Neele the family were responsible for many maps in county atlases including maps for Wilkes (see 64), the Traveller’s Pocket Atlas of Capper (as Neele & Son), Pinnock’s County Histories (Neele & Son, see 86), Cadell & Davies’s Magna Britannia (Neele & Son), Greenwood’s Atlas of the Counties of England (as J & J Neele, see 97), Bell’s Comprehensive Gazetteer (as J Neele & Son, see 107) as well as Thomson’s Guide through Scotland (Neele & Son).
From c.1815 they engraved the maps for James Dugdale’s The New British Traveller (4to, 45 maps). This was produced in four volumes with the imprint of James Cundee the publisher. These maps reappeared dated 1818 with a new imprint of James Robins, an author, bookseller and publisher who traded under the name of J Robins & Co. He also compiled a number of works unrelated to cartography under the pseudonym of Robert Scott. His only important cartographic work was this reissue as Robin’s Atlas of England and Wales and as The New British Traveller and both were published in 1819. The imprint in Robin’s Atlas refers to the Albion Press, London, which was also Cundee’s address. Some atlases were collections of stock items with differing map imprints dated 1812, 1815 or 1818 (see state 4 below).
E W Brayley issued sections of The Beauties of England and Wales with special titles A topographical and historical description of the county of ... illustrated with engravings. A copy of Hertford is known which includes Neele’s map.
Size 198 x 250 mm. British Miles (10 = 27 mm).
DEVON. Imprint: Published by James Cundee, Albion Press London. January 1st. 1812. (CeOS). Signature: Neele Sculpt Strand (EeOS).
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1812 |
The New British Traveller by James Dugdale (in volume II) |
(DevA). |
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London. James Cundee. 1819 (1820). |
AY, (KB).1 |
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1815 |
Imprint: Published by J & J Cundee, Albion Press London. January 1, 1815. (CeOS). |
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The New British Traveller by James Dugdale Vol II |
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London. J & J Cundee. (1815). |
C. |
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The New British Traveller by James Dugdale Vol II |
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Issued with three title pages. One engraved title page for each publisher (dated 1819) with a second type-set title page for either Cundee (1) or Robins (2). |
(1) RGS, (2) W. |
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1818 |
New imprint: Published by J Robins and Co, Albion Press London. January 1st. 1818.(CeOS). |
(DevA), (NDL). |
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Robin’s Atlas of England and Wales |
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London. J Robins & Co. 1819. |
CCCLXII, BL, C. |
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The New British Traveller or Modern Panorama of England and Wales Vol 1 |
(KB2). |
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London. J Robins & Co. 1819. |
CCCLXIII, BL, BCL. |
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[ 1] Loose sheets may have been available, but the only atlas copies seen are from a later date. Both Mr Alan Yates has a complete atlas and Kit Batten has a section covering Devonshire (pages 93-200 taken from a larger work) both with Devon with this imprint. Alan Yates reports that his atlas actually has maps with dates ranging from 1812 to 1818. Although the title page is dated 1819, there is reference to the extraordinary cold experienced in the month of January, 1820. It seems clear this was a volume put together using old sheets. Kit Batten's Devonshire section has map dated 1812, has sheet of engravings inserted at page 126 dated 1814 and references in text to 1814 and 1815.
[2] Many editions, eg the author’s copy of New British Traveller, were bound in so tightly that the imprint, which was almost a centimetre below the map, was lost, ripped or cut off when the maps were removed.
