Thomas Jefferys was one of the most important English map publishers of the 18th century. His work included prints and maps of locations around the world, but his most notable maps are of North America and the West Indies. He began his career in the map trade in the early 1730s, working as an engraver for a variety of London publishers, and eventually setting up his own shop. In 1746, he was appointed Geographer to the Prince of Wales, and in 1760 he became Geographer to the King. These titles granted access to manuscripts and cartographic information held by the government. In the early 1760s he embarked on an ambitious project to produce a series of English county maps based on new surveys, but ran out of money and filed for bankruptcy in 1766. He then partnered with London publisher Robert Sayer, who reissued many of Jefferys plates and continued to issue new editions after Jefferys' death in 1771. Jefferys' American Atlas and the accompanying West-India Atlas, published post posthumously, are considered his most important cartographic works.

This map is Robert Sayer's reissue of Thomas Jefferys' map from 1761. It is based on Gerhard Mueller's map of 1758, which was one of the first to correctly depict the Kurile Islands and also suggest the outline of Alaska and the Aleutian chain. It shows great detail of the Arctic coast of Siberia based on Vitus Bering's second Kamchatka expedition from 1733-43, and illustrates the sea routes made by Captains Bering and Chirikof. In the largely unexplored North America, the River of the West is boldly shown extending to Lake Winipigon. The discoveries of several different explorers are shown along the coast, including those of Bering, Tschirikow, and Sir Francis Drake. A key at bottom left translates Russian geographical terms. Published in Thomas Jeffery's The American Atlas by Robert Sayer and John Bennett.

References: Rumsey #0346.005; Shirley (BL Atlases) T.JEF-2a #4; Wagner (NW) #650.

Condition: B+

A crisp impression with contemporary outline color on a lightly toned sheet with the watermarks of "GB" surmounted by a Strasbourg lily. There is some light offsetting, minor foxing, and short centerfold separations at top and bottom have been archivally repaired.