1699 GASCOYNE, Joel
In
Devon, Benjamin Donn in 1765 is acknowledged as the first to complete a map at
1” to the Mile to satisfy the requirements set the Encouragement of Arts,
Manufactures and Commerce (later the Royal Society of Arts). However, it was
actually Cornwall that can claim to have first been mapped at this scale – and
65 years earlier. Joel Gascoyne obtained commissions in Cornwall, surveying the
estates at Kilkhampton of John Grenville and that at Lanhydrock for the Robarte
family from c.1693 to 1699. Possibly taking advantage of the opportunity to
travel and survey the county, he completed a map of the Duchy and announced it
in a broadsheet 27th, March 1699. The following year he announced plans
for a similar map of Devon, but these never came to fruition.[1]
Baptised
in October 1650 in Kingston-Upon-Hull, Joel was apprenticed to John Thornton,
where he learnt not only the skills of engraving but also surveying and
chart-making; an unusual combination at the time. He started his career in
London producing charts for John Seller and Thornton, and executed various maps
as well as surveying lands in and around London. He worked in Cornwall until
1700 but died in Barking in 1705, when his wife, Elizabeth, was granted letters
of administration.[2]
The
map of Cornwall measures 1350 x 1795 mm
and purports to have a scale of 1 In to
the Mile. All the bridges over the
Tamar are shown, but no roads continue
into Devon. Although the 'Crimble paissage' is shown no road leads to it. Fully graticuled and with Latitude shown on both sides. An inset (Ab) shows the Isles of Scilly, and at the base of the map is a printed gazetteer.
Roads are shown with double lines, solid or pecked.
There is a foliate frame beginning with the figure of Father Tamar (Tamer on map) cascading downwards to the beginning of the gazetteer. This forms a frame for the inset map of the Scilly Islands. A note within explains These Islands were not surveyed by the Author of the Mapp, but by Captain Greenville Collins whose skill and care is no ways questioned.
A Map of the County of Cornwall Newly Surveyed by Joel Gascoyne. Title separated from publishers´ details by line then Sold by I Thorton in the Minories, by R. Mount bookseller on Tower Hill, by P Lea, map-seller in Cheapside, by Chr: Brown at the Globe in the West End of St. Pauls, Londo., by Cha. Yeo, bookseller in Exon, by Fr. Hill, Grocer in Plimouth, by Cha. Blith, at the White Hart in Launceston.' Sold by Wm Berry in Craggs Court near Charing Cross. All within ornate frame surmounted by royal arms and consisting of various putti and two figures representing triver deities for the rivers Fall and Tamar top left. The signature is embedded in the first part of the gazetteer: I. Harris Sculp (Ac). Dedication to Charles Bodville, Earl of Radnor in another decorative cartouche with Bodville´s arms as well as views of Cornish tin-mining top centre. Extremely attractive compass rose with scene of two surveyors.
Only
three copies are known (BL detail illustrated, C, P). The Devon &
Cornwall Record Society made a facsimile
in 1991 from the private edition (New Series Vol 34). The BL copy is available online to download.
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1700 BROWNE, Christopher
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