Scarce antique engraved map of India and Southeast Asia, by Laurie and Whittle, and with information from James Rennell, published in London in 1794.
A wonderful map of South and Southeast Asia, from the end of the 18th century. Laurie and Whittle's map provides detailed coverage of the kingdoms and polities of the region, naming the following: Gannan or Tonkin; Cochin China; Tsiampa; the Kingdom of Cambodia; the Kingdom of Lao; the Kingdom of Siam; Malaya Peninsula; Pegu; Arakan; Ava Yava; etc.
The mapping in India will have come from Rennell's famous survey of India, which took place in the 1760s and '70s but was still the gold standard in Indian cartography in 1800.
Robert Laurie (ca. 1755-1836) and James Whittle (1757-1818) formed their Fleet Street, London-based firm upon the 1794 death of their employer Robert Sayer, himself one of the dominant print and mapmakers of the last half of the 18th century.
Laurie & Whittle started managing Sayer's business as early as 1787. They took over all managerial duties when Sayer's health flagged in 1792, and they changed the imprint in 1794 upon his death. Sayer left the two a 21-year lease on the shop (at £100 a year) and on Sayer's Bolt Court premises, as well as an option to acquire stock and equipment at a preferential price of £5,000 payable over three years.
Robert Laurie retired from the firm in 1812, and his role was assumed by his son, Richard Holmes Laurie (1777-1858). The younger Laurie worked with James Whittle until the latter died in 1818. After R. H. Laurie died in 1858, Alexander George Findlay, FRGS (1812-1875) purchased the firm from his daughters. The firm continues today under another name, specializing in yachting charts.
Laurie & Whittle were prolific print and map publishers, and throughout their careers, they produced numerous very important and rare works. They carried on Robert Sayer's atlas business and were responsible for editions of The Complete East-India Pilot and The American Atlas.
James Rennell, born in Chudleigh, Devon, England, in 1742, emerged as one of the most distinguished cartographers of his era. At the age of 14 he joined the British Navy as a midshipman, where he gained invaluable experience in marine surveying and hydrography during the Seven Years' War (1756-1763). This expertise led to his appointment at 24 as the Surveyor General of the British East India Company's territories in Bengal. Beginning in 1765, Rennell undertook the monumental task of surveying India, a region where the British East India Company had established its presence over a century earlier. Rennell's work was pivotal in mapping the Indian subcontinent, combining data from British Army expeditions with historical sources like the Ain-e-Akbari, a 16th-century Islamic geographic treatise. His approach included subdividing the country based on the Mughal provinces, or 'subas,' which provided a more detailed and historically grounded understanding of the region's geography. Rennell's contributions significantly advanced European knowledge of India, bridging the gap between the early days of British involvement in the region and the later colonial period under Queen Victoria.