55 John Cary 1789

John Cary has long been one of the most written about and admired of all the British mapmakers (see 54). To Fordham he was the founder of the modern school, the most prominent and successful exponent of his time, the cartographer who first combined care and beauty of design, with something really approximate to geographical accuracy.¹ The maps in each edition of Traveller's Companion are perfect examples of his craft. They combine simplicity of design with maximum of accuracy. After the elaborate designs of the seventeenth century and the first half of the eighteenth they may even strike one as too plain (compared with Moll and Read from the early 1700s for example).

Cary’s Traveller’s Companion appeared for the first time in 1790 (small 8vo, 43 maps) although many maps, including Devon, were dated 1789. A set of maps have been found on card and many, including Devon, are the first states of the respective counties. The Companion was extremely successful and was reprinted many times. Most counties had substantial revisions and, like Devon, were completely re-engraved for the 1806 issue (69). The Devon plate was re-engraved a second time (92). Atlases in states 2 and 5 were printed in two variations, with or without maps on reverse; Devon has Dorsetshire on reverse.

Loose maps of Bedfordshire, Cheshire and Cumberland based on Cary’s map have been seen and come from an unidentified journal with text headed Outlines of British Geography.² No copy of Devon is known.

Size 132 x 93 mm including title.                                                                                                                        Statute Miles (10 = 13 mm).

DEVONSHIRE. Signature: By J. Cary (AaOS) and Engraver (EaOS). Imprint: London Published Sepr. 1. 1789 by J. Cary Engraver No. 188 Strand. (CeOS). Devonport identified only by Dock. Town names are to be read horizontally. Ottery St Mary is missing from last line of panel.