1710 SENEX, J. - North America corrected from the observations communicated to the Royal Society of London, and the Royal Academy at Paris...

Monumental and important large wall map of the Eastern part of North America with the United States, Central America, and the West Indies. Centered on the great lakes.

1st published by John Senex in London in 1710, here probably a later state dedicated to Anthony Hammond.

One of the earliest large-scale English maps of the continent. It represents a British attempt to consolidate new information about the region and borrows data from such recently published sources as Delisle's landmark Carte du Mexique et de la Floride, especially for the lower portion of the map. To this information Senex contributed a fine depiction of the Great Lakes region and the most accurate definition of the lower Mississippi River and its delta by an English cartographer of the period. He also extended the map's coverage to the far reaches of Canada's Northwest Territories and the Terra Incognita above Baffin's Bay. Present-day Oklahoma and Texas are part of 'La Floride,' considered at the time to be a possession of the French. The Red River and the Indian villages of East Texas are portrayed accurately, but Senex, following Delisle, incorrectly placed many Texas rivers, in addition to depicting some strange and unrecognizable names. An exceptional product of its era, the map has a spare, clean, carto-scientific style indicative of that for which Senex was known.

SCARCE & IMPORTANT MAP!

Reference: Stevens&Tree 61a; Lowery 273; Wagner 495; Shirley, BL Atlases SEN-1c

John Senex (1678-

John Senex was a prominent mapmaker, engraver, globemaker and publisher who practiced his trade in early eighteenth-century London. He began his career in 1695 as an apprentice to Robert Clavell of the Stationers’ Company, where he stayed until 1702. His early work primarily consisted of engraving plates for almanacs and scientific books, including Sir William Browne’s Account of Microscopes and Telescopes.
In 1706, he turned his talents to cartography and began engraving and selling maps, globes, and astronomical charts. In 1710, he obtained professional premises on Fleet Street in London, and Senex frequently engraved his maps with a description of his shop’s location. As such, many of the maps in this collection have a variation of the inscription, “Engraved by Iohn Senex and sold by him at the Globe against St. Dunstan's Church, Fleet Street, London”.
Between 1710 and his death in 1740, Senex rose to prominence with the publication of his updated version of Ogilby’s Britannia. Senex’s version was in miniature (‘improved, very much corrected, and made portable’) and included updated road maps of England and Wales. As appointed geographer to Queen Anne, Senex frequently published maps and astronomical charts with preeminent eighteenth-century scientists, including astronomer Sir Edmund Halley. Together they published several maps outlining the predicted path of Halley’s namesake comet, as well as star charts and astronomical globes. Their collaboration also included a contentious version of a star catalog that included astronomical data Halley obtained unethically from Astronomer Royal John Flamsteed. This led Flamsteed to purchase and subsequently destroy 300 of the 400 printed charts. Halley nominated Senex for fellowship to the Royal Society of London, which was granted in July of 1728. Senex was also highly respected for producing terrestrial and celestial globes, available in sizes ranging from three to twenty-eight inches.
Following Senex’s death, his wife Mary continued operating the publishing business on Fleet Street until her retirement in 1755. Mary published a broadsheet advertising the continued sale of Senex’s work after his death, which provides descriptions of available globes, and a list of the most popular maps along with prices.