Robert Holmes Laurie and James Whittle | A new and elegant imperial sheet atlas. London, 1814 - photo 1
Robert Holmes Laurie and James Whittle | A new and elegant imperial sheet atlas. London, 1814 - photo 2
Robert Holmes Laurie and James Whittle | A new and elegant imperial sheet atlas. London, 1814 - photo 3
Robert Holmes Laurie and James Whittle | A new and elegant imperial sheet atlas. London, 1814 - photo 4
Robert Holmes Laurie and James Whittle | A new and elegant imperial sheet atlas. London, 1814 - photo 5

Robert Holmes Laurie and James Whittle | A new and elegant imperial sheet atlas. London, 1814

Lot 50
28.11.2023 14:00UTC +00:00
Classic
Sold
£ 9 525
AuctioneerSotheby´s
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 1076573
Lot 50 | Robert Holmes Laurie and James Whittle | A new and elegant imperial sheet atlas. London, 1814
Estimate value
£ 12 000 – 18 000
Robert Holmes Laurie and James Whittle, publishers

A new and elegant imperial sheet atlas; comprehending general and particular maps of every part of the world… forming the completest collection of single sheet maps hitherto published… engraved on fifty-five maps, beautifully coloured. London: James Whittle and Richard Holmes Laurie, 1814

Folio (540 x 405mm.), letterpress title and contents leaf, 55 hand-coloured engraved maps, 46 double-page, 8 folding, mounted on guards, modern dark blue half morocco over blue-grey paper boards, raised bands, spine gilt in compartments, marbled endpapers, 3 maps with faint dampstains to fore margins, three maps with short reinforcements on verso

This handsome collection of maps provides a detailed guide to the world as known to Europeans at the turn of the nineteenth century, “rendered particularly convenient by opening without folds,” as the extended title notes.

Engravers Robert Laurie (1755?‑1836) and James Whittle (1757‑1818) met as apprentices to Robert Sayer (1724‑1794), a Fleet Street publisher of prints, maps, and charts. They took over their master’s business on his retirement in 1794, and thus acquired a large stock of maps and maritime charts that would form the profitable core of their business. Their first “Imperial Sheet Atlas” was issued in 1796 and reprised in 1797 with 50 maps “principally compiled from the great French atlas and others of the most distinguished geographers in Europe”, according to the title page. New editions with more and updated maps appeared in 1798 (51 maps), 1800 (53 maps), and 1805 (55 maps); the present edition was the work’s final and most complete iteration. It contains an important suite of maps documenting the United States’ early years of nationhood. Among these are a general map of the “United States of America” (map 48), which shows the Mississippi as the country’s western border, as well as two regional maps (50 and 51), showing the original thirteen colonies plus the neighbouring, unsettled regions of the Mid-South and the Ohio Valley. There are also excellent maps of China and Japan, maps showing much of Africa as unexplored, and a fine twin-hemispherical world map.
Auction house category:Prints, graphics, books
Address of auction Sotheby´s
34-35 New Bond Street
W1A 2AA London
United Kingdom
Preview
28.11.2023
Phone +44 (0) 20 7293 5000
Phone +1 212 606 7000
Email
4FQ.AE2YUKFA@AYGLGHC3Y@
Conditions of purchaseConditions of purchase

Related terms

Frequently asked questions

First of all, you should register to be able to purchase at auction. After confirming your email address, enter your personal information in your user profile, such as your first name, last name, and mail address. Choose a lot from the upcoming auction and the maximum amount you want to place on it. After confirmation of your choice, we will send your application by e-mail to the appropriate auction house. If the auction house accepts a request, it will participate in the auction. You can view the current status of a bid at any time in your personal account in the "Bids" section.
Auctions are performed by auction houses and each of the auction houses describes their terms of auction. You can see the texts in the section "Auction information".
The results of the auction are published within a few days after the end of the auction. In the top menu of the site, find the tab "Auctions". Click on it and you will be on the auction catalog page, where you can easily find the category "Results". After opening it, select the desired auction from the list, enter and view the current status of the interested lot.
The information about the auction winners is confidential. The auction winner will receive a direct notification from the auction house responsible with instructions for further action: an invoice for payment and the manner in which the goods will be received.
Each of the auction houses has its own payment policy for the won lots. All auction houses accept bank transfers, most of them accept credit card payments. In the near future you will find detailed information for each case in the section "Auction information" on the page of the auction catalog and the lot.
Shipment of the won lot depends on its size. Small items can be delivered by post. Larger lots are sent by courier. Employees of the auction houses will offer you a wide range to choose from.
No. The archive serves as a reference for the study of auction prices, photographs and descriptions of works of art.