Original antique map by Thomas Jerrfrys depicting the Asian domains of the Ottoman Empire.
Published around 1760, it frequently appeared in editions of Salmon's A New Geographical and Historical Grammar.
The map spans from the Mediterranean Sea and Aegean coasts to the Middle East, covering the modern-day territories of Turkey (Anatolia), Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Iraq, and parts of the Arabian Peninsula.
The decorative title cartouche was a characteristic feature of his maps.
By the end of the eighteenth century, Britain had established itself as the world’s leading naval superpower, a development which went hand-in-hand with cartographic advancement. One of the cartographers who contributed to this phenomenon was Thomas Jefferys (c. 1719-1771), Royal Geographer to King George III. We know little of his background, save that he married in 1750 and seemed to identify primarily as an engraver, rather than as a geographer.
In 1766 he went bankrupt, which gave publisher Robert Sayer the opportunity to purchase a large portion of Jefferys’ materials and plates. Following this setback, Jefferys did continue to publish maps in partnership with the younger William Faden.
