Robert Sayer (ca. 1724-1794) was a prominent London map publisher. Robert’s father was a lawyer, but his older brother married Mary Overton, the widow of prominent mapmaker Philip Overton and the proprietor of his shop after his death. Mary continued the business for roughly a year after her marriage and then, in early 1748, it passed to Robert. Robert became a freeman of the Stationers’ Company later that year; his first advertisement as an independent publisher was released in December.
Sayer benefited from Overton’s considerable stock, which included the plates of John Senex. In the 1750s, Sayer specialized in design books and topographical prints, as well as comic mezzotints. In 1753, he, along with John Roque, published a new edition of Thomas Read’s Small British Atlas, the first of several county atlases that Sayer would publish.
Sayer’s business continued to grow. In 1760 he moved further down Fleet Street to larger premises at 53 Fleet Street. In 1766, he acquired Thomas Jefferys’ stock when the latter went bankrupt. In 1774, he entered into a partnership with John Bennett, his former apprentice. The pair specialized in American atlases, based on the work of Jefferys. They also began publishing navigational charts in the 1780s and quickly became the largest supplier of British charts in the trade.
Bennett’s mental health declined, and the partnership ended in 1784. As Sayer aged, he relied on his employees Robert Laurie and James Whittle, who eventually succeeded him. He spent more and more time at his house in Richmond. In 1794, he died in Bath.
A Revolutionary War Florida Rarity. Fine wide margined example of Sayer & Bennett's chart of Amelia Harbor and Bar, based upon a survey conducted under the direction of Jacob Blamey in January 1775. The map is oriented with west at the top. On...
Highly detailed sea chart of the area around Hilton Head, South Carolina, based upon a survey by Captain John Gascoigne. Gascoigne's finely engraved chart was produced at the beginning of the American Revolution, at a time when the outcome among the...
Fine English edition of Muller's map of the Northwest Coast of America and Northeast Coast of Asia, based upon reports from J.N. De L'Isle in St. Petersburg and others. Includes a massive conjectural land mass approximating the Alaskan Archipelago and...
Detailed map of Newfoundland the Grand Banks, published in Jeffery's American Atlas. The map includes three ship illustrations representing the voyages of Chabert, Cook and Fleurieu, inset of astronomical observations on which the chart is based, as...
Fine example of Sayer and Bennett's chart of the Gulf of St. Laurence, based on the surveys by James Cook and Michael Lane. At the conclusion of the French and Indian War, the British needed accurate charts of the territories that had been awarded to...
Detailed 4-sheet map of South America, based upon and earlier French map by D'Anville. Includes a large inset map of the Falklands. South America is shown during the Bourbon Englightenment period, when Spain was finally beginning to share more...
Detailed map of South America, drawn toward the end of Spain's colonial empire. Includes the Galapagos Islands and "Isles know to the Spaniards." A scarce early edition.
Nice example of this detailed map of the Straits of Magellan on continuous regions, prepared from the recently completed map of Juan de La Cruz Cano & Olmedilla and Hiolito Ricarte. Cruz Cano's eight-sheet map of South America, much like the...
Detailed map of the British Isles, with several keys noting the various counties. Towns, roads, rivers, lakes, islands, etc. shown.
Detailed 4 sheet map of England and Wales, by John Rocque, an immigrant Huguenot who worked in London from 1735 to 1762. Little is known about the early life of Rocque, who worked as a surveyor, engraver and publisher, even though he is mentioned in...
Fine large format map of the County of Middlesex, with London in the lower right corner. Includes 92 small coats of arms of the Free Companies in the county, and two larger decorative cartouches. A large and decorative 18th century map of Middlesex...
Detailed late 18th Century Postal map of Italy, Sicily, Corsica and Sardinia, with contiguous regions. Title also given in French.
Stunning Original Hand-Color. Rare English sea chart of the South China Sea, published in London by Robert Sayer for an early edition of his The Oriental pilot, or, A select collection of charts and plans ... for the navigation of the country trade in...
A finely detailed chart of the Cape Verde Islands off the Coast of Africa, issued by the London publishers, Robert Sayer & John Bennett. This sheet of sea charts details the Cape Verde Islands. First settled by the Portuguese in 1462, it soon...
Detailed chart of the Cape Verde Islands off the Coast of Africa, with inset maps of Praya Bay, A View of the English Road, A View of Praya Bay and a group of recognition views.
