Use Restrictions

Public Domain. There are no known restrictions.

Access Restrictions

There are no access restrictions.

Preferred Citation

"A New Atlas of the British West Indies" bound volume, C0349, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Donor is unknown.

Processing Information

Processing completed by Meghan Glasbrenner in September 2023. Finding aid completed by Meghan Glasbrenner in September 2023.

Biographical Information

Bryan Edwards was born in Westbury, Wiltshire, England on May 21, 1743, the eldest son of Bryan Edwards and Elizabeth Bayly. After the death of his father in 1756, young Bryan came under the care of various family members, eventually relocating to Jamaica where he would spend the majority of the rest of his life. In 1793, he published the first London edition of his History, Civil and Commercial, of the British Colonies in the West Indies , a two-volume account of the history and culture of the British colonized islands, which ran for five editions, including an 1806 edition published in Philadelphia by James Humphreys. He passed away on July 16, 1800 in Southampton, England.

James Humphreys was born on January 15, 1748/49 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to James Humphreys and Susanna Assheton. Humphreys was apprenticed to William Bradford, a Philadelphia printer, until 1770 and opened his own printing business in the city two years later. After being labeled a Loyalist during the outbreak of the American Revolution, Humphreys left Philadelphia for nearly 20 years, returning in late 1796 or early 1797. In reestablishing his printing business Humphreys chose to focus on book printing until his death on February 2, 1810.

Joseph H. Seymour was an engraver who began his work with Isiah Thomas in Worcester, Massachusetts until relocating to Philadelphia between 1803-1822. Benjamin Tanner, the older brother of engraver Henry S. Tanner, was also an engraver who trained and began his career in New York City before relocating to Philadelphia some time before 1811.

Scope and Content

A bound volume titled "A New Atlas of the British West Indies" containing 11 maps of various 19th century colonized islands in the Caribbean, published by James Humphreys of Philadelphia. The three fold-out maps depict "A New Map of the West Indies" engraved by J.H. Seymour and St. Domingo and Jamaica engraved by Benjamin Tanner. The eight single page maps include St. Vincent, Barbados (spelled Barbadoes), the Virgin Islands, Grenada, and the Island of Tobago engraved by Benjamin Tanner, as well as "Maps of the Island of Dominica" engraved by J.H. Seymour, and the Island of St. Christophers and the Island of Antigua attributed to "Marshall".

This atlas volume was printed to accompany the 1806 Philadelphia printing of Bryan Edwards' History, Civil and Commercial, of the British Colonies in the West Indies and can be recognized by key details on the fold out maps, such as the circular cartouche that contains the title on the West Indies map and the signatures of the engravers in the bottom right corner.

Arrangement

This is a single item collection.

Related Material

The Special Collections Research Center holds other historic maps, atlases, and engravings such as the C. Harrison Mann, Jr. map collection and the Broadus Bailey French Revolution print collection .

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Atlases
• Barbados
• Dominica
• Edwards, Bryan, 1743-1800
• Engraving
• Humphreys, James, 1748-1810
• Jamaica
• Maps
• Saint Vincent
• Saint-Domingue
• Seymour, Joseph H.
• Tanner, Benjamin, 1775-1848
• West Indies, British