Who
were John Cooke?
This is a shortened version of the introduction to Kit Batten's monograph on John Cooke and appeared in slightly different form in the IMCoS Journal - the journal of the International Map Collectors Society in Autumn 2011.
For those who wish to see the article as printed it has been published on the web - click here.
If you wish to find out more about IMCoS and its annnual meetings - the association for map lovers - click here.
The monograph lists all 36 works produced by John Cooke between 1790 and 1845 with an illustration of each map. The monograph has been updated and the Second Edition can be read here on my blog.
At first sight the title looks
grammatically wrong but a glance inside Tooley´s
Dictionary of Mapmakers[1]
presents us with three separate people called John Cooke. This article is an
attempt to unravel their careers which inexplicably have become intermingled
over the years.
First of all let us clear up
one point: the father and son partnership
in Tooley clearly refers to John Cooke of Paternoster Row (other addresses quoted
being incorrect). John trained under Alexander Hogg and published part works. His
son, Charles (1750-1816), succeeded him on his death but was active before this.
Between 1802 and 1810 Charles published The Modern British Traveller, a collection of 47 small guides on English
counties[2] written
by George Alexander Cooke (not related).
The entry on this John Cooke should read simply: Cooke, John (1731-1810).
Father of Charles Cooke, below. Engraver, draughtsman, and publisher of Paternoster
Row, London. To confuse the issue
further, George Alexander Cooke wrote A Modern and Authentic System of
Universal Geography which was published
by C Cooke in 1807[3].
The information given on Charles is correct but requires the addition of this
atlas, but who are the other two John Cookes of London and Plymouth?
JOHN
COOKE of London
John Cooke was the son of Ann and John Cooke of Fetter Lane[4]. He was baptised 1st August 1765 in Holborn, London and was apprenticed to the bookbinder Mary Cooke, also of Fetter Lane on 7th September 1779 at the age of fourteen. However, he was later turned over to John Russell, by whom he was "freed the same day” which points to some kind of special arrangement, Russell himself being a well-known engraver. Between 1787 and 1812 John Cooke worked as an engraver from a number of different London addresses (see below). Considering that he had a number of apprentices himself during this period, including his brother Stephen, his output seems to have been fairly modest.
We know that Cooke worked for
a variety of publishers including D Steel, Bowyer, Boydell, W Walker, Hills and
Mawman and also the very successful and well-respected William Faden; but he
also found time to publish some of his own work and produced one atlas and a
guide to drawing maps. The first recorded work signed by Cooke is A New Mercator´s Chart of the Coast of
Ireland on six sheets published in London with dates from January 1790 and
executed for D Steel.
In 1792, shortly
after moving to Mill Hill, Cooke produced a map of the road from London to Mill
Hill and Barnet. This map has a slightly strange appearance as it follows the
road something like a strip map, complete with dogleg, and includes a
dedication of sincere thanks to his
friends and the public for their favours. Also in 1792, and after
considerable disorders in Toulon, the French royalists took control of the port
and opened it to the British fleet, who occupied it until 1793. The Chart of the roads and
harbours of Toulon with their
environs was published April 12th 1795 in London by William
Faden, then Geographer to His Majesty and to His Royal Highness the Prince of
Wales with the signature of J. Cooke but now living in Hendon, Middlesex.
Over the period
1790-1800 John Cooke worked on a number of quite impressive projects completing
two maps of the River Thames; one for Boydell´s
Rivers (on two sheets) which was a copiously illustrated work; and another
for Colquhoun´s work on the commerce and police of that river. He completed two
maps of Egypt for Home´s Select Views in
Mysore as well as a plan of St Petersburg for a popular guide to the city
by the German, Heinrich Storch, translated into English as the Picture of St Petersburg. During his
time in Hendon he also completed a map of the area for William Faden.
Although
he seems to have worked mainly for others he was obviously more than a
jobbing-engraver. The Universal Atlas was
published in 1802 and has nearly 30 attractive, circular maps, all executed by
John Cooke and with imprints dated from August 1800 to January 1802. The
imprints strongly suggest that Cooke was a co-publisher together with others.
About this time we find two
maps which deserve more attention. A plan Improvements proposed by the Hon. Corporation
of
John Cooke did indeed work as
an engraver for the Admiralty[5].
Alexander Dalrymple (1737-1808) was appointed as the first Hydrographer to the
Admiralty in 1795 and the first admiralty charts appeared in 1800 after a
rolling press was purchased. John Cooke was engaged as (part-time) plan
engraver. Apparently there was some sort of dispute and Cooke was sacked in
1804 but he petitioned the Admiralty for “unfair dismissal” with the matter
dragging on until 1807 or 1808. Given Cooke´s publication of both an atlas and
of a guide to producing maps (his later Synopsis)
he may have been disgruntled that he did not receive better recognition.
Sometime after his
admiralty work Cooke provided maps for Abraham Rees´ Cyclopedia, or Universal
Dictionary published by Longman, Hurst, Rees and Orme. The map-making was
supervised by Aaron Arrowsmith, a leading London map publisher. However, Cooke
only produced three more maps before disappearing from the London scene,
although he did publish a manual of geography. Of the 20 cartographic works[6]
identified as engraved by a John Cooke of either London or with no address, all
of these can be assigned to a period up to 1812. These range from the set of 6
charts, Mercator´s Chart of the Coast of
Ireland, to A General Synopsis Of
Geography by John Cooke Late
Geographer to the Admiralty.
This Synopsis of Geography, published in 1812,
was printed for James Cooke at his Bloomsbury address. It is a complete manual
and guide to the drawing of maps, with historical introduction, illustrated
with 20 copper plates most dated 1811 and signed by Cooke and which also contains
a beautiful frontispiece of the moon[7]
engraved by a Miss Mary Cooke from a drawing made from actual observations ...under direction of William Kitchiner. All
other engravings bear Cooke's signature while the title page has Printed for James Cooke. James Cooke was
apprenticed to William Cooke, bookbinder, from 1745-1753; William´s business
being carried on by his widow, Mary, after his death in 1775. James´ or Miss Mary
Cooke´s precise relationship to John has not yet been established, however, given
the fact that John was initially apprenticed to William´s widow, the assumption
is that they were in fact related. Nevertheless, this manual of cartography
again makes it clear that John was more than just a jobbing engraver.
Besides the Synopsis set of maps, only six more maps
signed by Cooke have been found which were produced after his dismissal from
the admiralty in 1805 but before 1817. These include the four maps for the Cyclopedia written and produced by
Abraham Rees, a map of the British Empire in the East and a map of Stoke
Damerell.
The
only map engraved by John Cooke with any connection to Devon was A Plan of the
Town of Plymouth Dock. This map was surveyed, drawn, and published
by T. Richards of Totnes, Devon and published on October 25th, 1810,
and was Engraved by John Cooke, London,
late Engr. to the Admiralty. This very detailed map had belonged among the
St Aubyn family papers: a family associated with Devon and Cornwall and who
still lease parts of St Michael’s Mount, previously part of their property from
1660. The imprint and signature clearly indicate that John Cooke had previously
done work for the Admiralty. The John Cooke referred to here was a London
resident executing a plan on behalf of an influential Cornish client with land
in Devon and seems to have come into contact with a local publisher, not
well-known for cartographical output.
List of addresses used by
John Cooke
Tooks Court, Cursitor Street 1787 apprenticeship
returns
4 Clare Court, Drury Lane 1790 on map 1
Mill Hill, Middlesex 1792-94 2, 3, 4
Hendon 1795-96 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
50 Howland Street, Fitzroy Square 1799-1802 10, 11, 12, 13, 14
11 Pratt Place, Camden Town 1805-08 16, 17
57 High Street, Bloomsbury 1812 21 (was also James Cooke´s
address)
List of apprentices taken on
by John Cooke to 1800[8]
Stephen Cooke (brother) 1787
Samuel Papps 1790 £25.00
John Buck 1790 £26.00 5s
William Henry Hayes 1799 £21.00
James Isaac Thomas Kensett 1799 £31.00 10s
Joseph Wright 1800 £20.00
Edward Field 1800 £40.00
JOHN COOKE of Plymouth
The first guides to Plymouth
appeared in 1812 and one of these, The
Picture of Plymouth, contained one map, The
Town of Plymouth Dock 1811, signed by John Cooke as engraver (but no
address). Cooke’s map was reissued together with a second map in the Tourist's Companion, with much expanded
and revised text, published by Granville & Son of Plymouth-Dock when it
appeared in 1823 and issued again in subsequent editions of the Tourist's Companion from 1828 (see
below). What is very interesting, however, is that for the 1823 issue above,
the date (1811) was deleted and an address was added to Cooke’s signature: New Road Stonehouse Plymo. This now
linked a John Cooke with Plymouth and New Road and clearly identified the
engraver of the 1811 map with Plymouth.
Strangely, no further maps by any
John Cooke have been discovered between 1811 and 1817. The next two works signed
by a John Cooke both clearly link him with the west country: a view of Falmouth Harbour in C S Gilbert´s Historical Survey of ... Cornwall
published at [Plymouth] Dock by J Congdon in 1817; and a two-page plan appeared
in Substance of a Statement ... concerning ... a Rail Road from the Forest
of Dartmoor to the Plymouth Lime-Quarries published in London, by
Harding in 1819 and submitted to
parliament by Sir Thomas Tyrwhitt (who was instrumental in the
construction of the prisoner-of-war camp, popularly known as Dartmoor Prison). Both
maps are signed by Cooke with address, Stonehouse, Plymo(uth).
A detailed map of the Borough of
Plymouth was issued in 1820. There is an engraver's signature naming Cooke and
the imprint is: Pubd April 15. 1820. by Mrs E Nile,
These last two maps indicate that Cooke may have been
active for Mrs Nile up to three years earlier. The Borough plan has a line below the imprint: Engraving & Copper-Plate Printing Office and the premises are
marked with an asterisk on Union Street (the map has even been extended into
the border to include it). The Plan
has a key for Dock (Plymouth Dock) and the Copper Plate Print. Off. is shown as
reference h, again in Union Street. A
further chart is known, Chart of the Harbour of Plymouth - Taken 1817;
although not signed it does have the imprint: The Copper Plate Engraving and
Printing Office, New Road, Stonehouse, Plymo(uth). Although a better executed
plan of the Sound it does resemble the map of the area later included with the Interesting Particulars. It would seem
possible that Cooke also engraved this chart.
Shortly after this, Cooke´s first of 3 plans of Plymouth Breakwater
appeared. This engineering project attracted a lot of attention around this
time. The Interesting Particulars,
relative to that Great National Undertaking, the Breakwater was printed
for, and sold by J Johns at Plymouth Dock and John Cooke of Union Street,
Stonehouse in 1821 and contains two cartographic works: Cooke’s Guide to Plymouth Sound and Breakwater, a small map
covering the area from Ram Head and Mew Stone with an extra plan below the
bottom border - Transverse section of the
Breakwater – with a note on the first stone being laid in 1812. The map has
an imprint of Mrs Nile as well as the
engraver´s signature. The second work is another fairly detailed engraving of
two plans of the proposed breakwater at Plymouth. This, too, has Mrs Nile as
publisher and Cooke as engraver.
Although the second plan has not been seen in any other works, the first map
above was reissued in subsequent editions of the Tourist's Companion from 1828 (with title New Guide …). Cooke is now firmly established in the Stonehouse
district near Plymouth. Apart from these three maps with her imprint, and all
of them associated with John Cooke, no work published by Mrs Nile is known. In
1823 another plan of the breakwater was published and Cooke´s address is given
as 48 Union Street for the first time.
Apart from his maps and charts, not many other engraving
works by Cooke have been discovered. Somers Cocks[9]
lists a J Cooke only for a print of the
Royal Hotel and Plymouth Theatre (designed by John Foulston and completed
1818). This was published and sold separately and is tentatively dated to 1820.
The only other entry refers to an illustration of Stoke Church, Devonport in
editions of The Tourist’s Companion already
mentioned (signatures of A. Rae delt
and Cooke Stonehouse).
In 1825 a curious broadside was published illustrated with a balloon landing in the sea between
Stokehead and Yealm Point, near Plymouth, Devon. George and Margaret Graham
attempted a balloon ascent from Stonehouse market in Plymouth on 14th
November 1825. Despite adverse winds, the couple set off at 3pm in front of a large
crowd. Sure enough, the balloon was dragged seaward by the wind and came down
in the sea only 14 minutes later. The couple were rescued by a Royal Marine
boat and returned to shore, but the balloon was lost. This single sheet, like
the theatre print, was published by from 48 Union Street, Stonehouse, i.e. at the
address of Mrs Nile.
If few engravings are extant, a number of other maps are known. Perhaps
John Cooke’s most successful map was The
Environs Of Plymouth Devonport And Stone House. The map was actually
completed on 4 plates but could be (and later was) assembled to form one map[10]
and the map appeared with the sub-title A
Companion to the Different Guides of the Neighbourhood (on 4 sheets)
published in Stonehouse by John Cooke circa 1828, it was also published on one sheet, circa 1830, and was even reissued by
William Wood of Devonport from circa 1860 in various publications including
issues of the Three Towns Almanack.
Apparently Cooke attempted to receive patronage for this map. A letter
from Cooke to the Mayor of Plymouth, Pridham, September 1828 has been preserved
and in it Cooke appeals for support. Signed by Cooke, it accompanied a sheet of
proposals for a map that will be engraved
on four Plates, to adjoin each other, either to be fitted up as one, or formed
into pages for the Pocket or otherwise. It would seem that Cooke did not
receive his desired effect as the only copy known in four sheets has no
dedication.[11]
Subsequent to 1827 only three more works are known: Cooke's New Plan Of The Three Towns Of Plymouth, Devonport, And
Stonehouse,; a map of Dartmoor; and another breakwater plan. While the New Plan, an up-to-date map of the city,
is dated 1834, the second map, although very detailed, is undated: A Map Of The Whole Of The Dartmoor Forest
Devon. The engraver´s signature is extremely pertinent: By John Cooke, Engraver and Geographer
Extraordinary to his late Majesty in the 75th year of Age. This
both testifies to John Cooke´s longevity and reveals that he was still capable
of engraving. The late plan of the breakwater is the most detailed of Cooke’s
plans and is interesting for a number of reasons not the least being the fact
that below Cooke’s signature and address is - Map & Chart Engraver and Geographer Extraordinary to His late
Majesty William IVth – in his 80th year of age.
Why there was a need for a new map of the breakwater
in 1847 is uncertain. The lighthouse had been completed three years earlier (on
1st May, 1844 and it is clearly shown in the plan). Certainly the
table of stone laid shows signs of alteration and the date may also have been
reengraved, i.e the plan could indeed have been drawn up in 1844 to exploit the
opening of the lighthouse (with statistics up to 1842) but altered in 1846 and
1847 to include the latest tonnages.
Nevertheless, Laurence Worms has determined from
entries in the 1841 census report that John Cooke was resident in Union Lane
(sic), East Stonehouse and still registered as engraver in that year. His age
is given as 70 (but rounding up and down for census reports is known) and his
family comprised of Eliza Cooke, 50, also an engraver and John (20) and Charles
Cooke (12), both chair-makers. The records show that while John junior and
Charles were born in
Summary
If John Cooke of London was born in 1765 he would have
been 80 years old in 1845. All work by a John Cooke before 1812 has a London
address including the map for the St Aubyn family published in 1810. Obviously
in order to engrave the map, Cooke did not need to visit Plymouth but something
sparked an interest in the westcountry. This John Cooke worked for the
Admiralty, albeit for a relatively short period. We have 25 signed maps, one
atlas and a manual of mapmaking executed up to 1812 with London addresses (or
no address) and no association with Devon or Cornwall. We have one map with
London address showing Plymouth Dock. We do seem to have a hiatus between 1812
and 1817, but more maps may come to light. A (London) career of twenty-two
years is very brief for any engraver and it looks very much as if Cooke moved
to the west country between 1812 and 1817. However, we have a complete change
in direction as far as work is concerned: if his pre-1812 work was a mixture of
maps of all areas of the world, his post-1817 work was limited to Plymouth and
surrounding areas.
We have only one further work by John Cooke post-1808,
not including the Synopsis, and that
is the 1812-published Town of Plymouth
Dock with its later replacement of date by a Plymouth address (suggesting
he was not resident there in 1811) before the 1817 map of Falmouth Harbour appears, which clearly reveals residency at
Stonehouse. We know of 17 maps and plans executed between this 1811-dated map
and the final breakwater chart of 1847. Assuming the breakwater plan was
produced between the completion of the lighthouse in 1844 and the date of 1847 (and
the date and/or tonnages subsequently altered), and that John produced the plan
in his 80th year, then he must have been born sometime before 1767
and this ties in with the date of birth for London´s Cooke. The information
that he had worked for the Admiralty strengthens the assumption they are one
and the same.
There are two maps from the
London period with signature noting engraver
to the Admiralty, and there is one map from this period and the Synopsis with late engraver … . Only Cooke’s
Chart of Plymouth Sound, of 1824 notes any connection with the Admiralty
until the map of Dartmoor circa 1840 and the breakwater chart of 1847. Between
these we have the Traveller’s Directory,
and Stranger's Guide with the title page Map & Chart Engraver, and Geographer Extraordinary to H.R.H. The
Duke of Clarence, Lord High Admiral. However, the clearest connection
between the two periods in question, and hence the two John Cookes, must be the
similarities between the map of Plymouth Dock executed for the St Aubyn family
and the map included in the first Plymouth guide book. While the first is much
larger the similarity is startling. The engraver of the first must have exactly
copied, at smaller scale, the original map. The first map has the address of
Cooke and the reference to the Admiralty and the guide book brings in the
Plymouth address. The lack of an address in the first state of the guide book
map reinforces the assumption that Cooke moved to the westcountry during the
period 1810-1817, the address being introduced for the completely new edition
in 1823.
Certainly there seems to be a
lot of evidence to show that John Cooke of London is also the John Cooke of
Plymouth. The disappearance of work with a London address coinciding roughly
with the appearance of Plymouth addresses being a good indicator but not
decisive in itself. The links with the Admiralty are more pertinent: Cooke was
definitely working for the admiralty in the early 1800s and the Plymouth John
Cooke specifically refers to the Admiralty at a time when the Duke of Clarence
was a senior member of the board. And finally, the map of Devonport made for
the St Aubyn family and its reappearance in reduced format signed by John Cooke
(no address) and this revised a few years later to include his Stonehouse
address. It is clear to me that this is one and the same person, who worked
both as engraver and as publisher with a total of 36 separate map publications
so far discovered; the entries in Tooley can now be updated to award him the
recognition he deserves.
List of Plymouth addresses
used by John Cooke
Stonehouse, Plymouth 1817-23 on maps 23, 24, 26, 28, 29,
New Road, Stonehouse 1823 20.2
48 Union Street, Stonehouse 1823-24 30, 31,
82 Union Street, Stonehouse 1827-45 32, 34, 35 (no house number), 36
[1] See Tooley´s Dictionary of Mapmakers Vol. I; Map Collector
Publications; 1999; pages 295 and 297.
[2] Each individual guide was titled Topographical Survey or Topographical and Statistical Description
(of county) and the series was quite successful. Counties were often bound
together in pairs or groups and there were numerous issues.
[3] In December 2010 maps from
this work were erroneously offered by an auctioneer as being by John Cooke and
a dealer was offering the same in January 2011.
[4] I am indebted to Laurence Worms who
provided the details here about John Cooke´s birth and apprenticeship and for
providing me with a list of Cooke maps he had compiled. John Cooke is entry
2001 in D F McKenzie, Stationers´ Company
Apprentices: 1701-1800, Oxford Bibliographical Society, 1978. Cooke´s
apprentices are listed under 1994-2000, his brother Stephen being entry 1995
(see also page 20).
[5] I am indebted to Dr Andrew Cook for
providing information about Cooke´s time at the Admiralty.
[6] Not including multiple maps
in one work.
[7] This engraving won Miss Cooke the
Silver Pallet from the Society for the Encouragement of Arts and Sciences on
30th May 1809 when she was just 17. It was Drawn
by John Cooke and published by him on September 1st, 1808.
[8] My thanks to Laurence Worms
who provided these details gathered from BBTI, COPAC, Susanne Fisher, Ian
Maxted, Moir, Schrire and Tooley.
[9] Somers Cocks:
[10] Each plate has a piano key
border on two sides and a plain two line border on the ‘joining’ sides. The
maps are well detailed and owe much to the Ordnance Survey.
[11] My thanks to the West Devon Record
Office for making a copy of the letter and the proposal available.
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