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The "Holster Atlas"
Titlepage, 2pp. dedication to "Gov. Pownall," 2pp. "Advertisement," 1p. "List of maps," and six engraved maps, hand colored in outline. Contemporary marbled boards, rebacked to style in modern calf, gilt leather label.
The "Holster Atlas" is one of the most important atlases of the American Revolution, designed for use in the field. It was issued at the suggestion of Governor George Pownall and included the "maps that the British high command regarded as providing essential topographical information in the most convenient form" (Schwartz & Ehrenberg).
This collection of maps was published by Sayer and Bennet at the beginning of the Revolution for the use of British officers. "Surveys and Topographical Charts being fit only for a Library, such maps as an Officer may take with him into the Field have been much wanted. The following Collection forms a Portable Atlas of North America, calculated in its Bulk and Price to suit the Pockets of Officers of all Ranks" - Advertisement.
Although the publishers claimed the atlas would fit into an officer's pocket, it was usually carried in a holster and thus gained its nickname. The six maps are as follows:
- Dunn, Samuel: NORTH AMERICA, AS DIVIDED AMONGST THE EUROPEAN POWERS. BY SAMUEL DUNN, MATHEMATICIAN. London: printed for Robt. Sayer, Jan. 10, 1774.
- Dunn, Samuel: A COMPLEAT MAP OF THE WEST INDIES, CONTAINING THE COASTS OF FLORIDA, LOUISIANA, NEW SPAIN, AND TERRA FIRMA: WITH ALL THE ISLANDS. London: Robt. Sayer, Jan. 10, 1774.
- A GENERAL MAP OF THE NORTHERN BRITISH COLONIES IN AMERICA. WHICH COMPREHENDS THE PROVINCE OF QUEBEC, THE GOVERNMENT OF NEWFOUNDLAND, NOVA-SCOTIA, NEW-ENGLAND AND NEW-YORK. FROM THE MAPS PUBLISHED BY THE ADMIRALTY AND BOARD OF TRADE, REGULATED BY THE ASTRONOMIC AND TRIGONOMETRIC OBSERVATIONS OF MAJOR HOLLAND AND CORRECTED FROM GOVERNOR POWNALL'S LATE MAP 1776. London: Robt. Sayer & Jno. Bennet, Aug. 14, 1776.
- Evans, Lewis: A GENERAL MAP OF THE MIDDLE BRITISH COLONIES, IN AMERICA. CONTAINING VIRGINIA, MARYLAND, THE DELAWARE COUNTIES, PENNSYLVANIA AND NEW JERSEY. WITH THE ADDITION OF NEW YORK, AND THE GREATEST PART OF NEW ENGLAND, AS ALSO OF THE BORDERING PARTS OF THE PROVINCE OF QUEBEC, IMPROVED FROM SEVERAL SURVEYS MADE AFTER THE LATE WAR, AND CORRECTED FROM GOVERNOR POWNALL'S LATE MAP 1776. London: R. Sayer & J. Bennet, Oct. 15, 1776.
- Romans, Bernard: A GENERAL MAP OF THE SOUTHERN BRITISH COLONIES, IN AMERICA. COMPREHENDING NORTH AND SOUTH CAROLINA, GEORGIA, EAST AND WEST FLORIDA, WITH THE NEIGHBOURING INDIAN COUNTRIES. FROM THE MODERN SURVEYS OF ENGINEER DE BRAHM, CAPT. COLLET, MOUZON & OTHERS; AND FROM THE LARGE HYDROGRAPHICAL SURVEY OF THE COASTS OF EAST AND WEST FLORIDA. BY B. ROMANS. London: R. Sayer & J. Bennett [sic], Oct. 15, 1776.
- Brassier, William Furness: A SURVEY OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN INCLUDING LAKE GEORGE, CROWN POINT AND ST. JOHN, SURVEYED BY ORDER OF...SR. JEFFERY AMHERST...BY WILLIAM BRASSIER, DRAUGHTSMAN. 1762. London: Robt. Sayer & Jno. Bennet, Aug. 5, 1776.
An important collection of Revolutionary-era American maps, intended for use by British officers in the theatre of war.
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.
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