Herman Moll (c. 1654-1732) British, Reproduction of the "Beaver Map." Depicts the 1715 view of the Newfoundland area. 

Overall Size: 37 5/8 x 26 5/8 in. 

Sight Size: 30 x 18 in. 

#5050 . 

Herman Moll was born c. 1654 in Germany or the United Provinces. The earliest extant mention of Moll was made by the natural philosopher Robert Hooke, who recorded in 1678 that Moll was working in London as an engraver. Moll later specialized in engraving maps, and went on to produce and publish maps and globes from his studies of the work of other cartographers. Moll probably sold his first maps from a stall in various places in London. From 1688 he had his own shop in Wanley’s Court in London’s Blackfriars, moving in 1691 to the corner of Spring Gardens and Charing Cross, and then finally relocating in 1710 somewhere along the River Thames to the Strand where he remained until his death. In the 1690s Moll worked mainly as an engraver for Christopher Browne, Robert Morden and Lea, but by the beginning of the 18th Century Moll began to compile and engrave maps solely under his own name. In 1701 A System of Geography, a geographical reference book, was published featuring many maps engraved by Moll. Several subsequent editions were issued, and Moll’s name became so closely associated with it that it was often called “Moll’s Geography.” In the years that followed he brought out several volumes including Fifty-six New and Accurate Maps of Great Britain, a book of maps of the British Isles. In 1707 he began his Atlas Geographus, which appeared in monthly deliveries from 1707 to 1717, and eventually comprised five volumes. This included a full geographical representation of the world in color maps and illustrations, one of the most extensive in Britain up to that point. In 1710 he began producing artfully crafted pocket globes. These were each a pair of globes, with the larger, hinged celestial globe encircling a smaller globe. On the latter he often included the route of Dampier’s circumnavigation. Due to their intricacy and delicacy, surviving pocket globes are extremely rare. In 1715 Moll issued The World Described, a collection of thirty large, double-sided maps which saw numerous editions. In these maps Moll’s skill as an engraver is particularly clear, with two of his most famous works among them: “A New and Exact Map of the Dominions of the King of Great Britain” and “To The Right Honorable John Lord Sommers This Map of North America According To Ye Newest and Most Exact Observations.” These were distinctive for their elaborate cartouches and images, and are known respectively as the Beaver Map and the Codfish Map. As with much of his work, Moll used these maps to publicize and support British policy and regional claims throughout the world. Moll died on September 22nd, 1732, as noted in his obituary in The Gentleman’s Magazine.

Small tear on upper left corner.