John Cary, Engraver and Cartographer
(1754-1835)
Born in 1754, John Cary began work as an engraver and set up business
in London as a map publisher. He became one of the most prolific
mapmakers of his time and was the first engraver to produce maps
of utility by breaking the trend of highly decorative maps. Cary
produced his maps for reference and practical use compared to many
of his predecessors whose maps had been produced as much as for
works of art as for geographical reference. It was the coaching
era that led to Cary’s progress as maps were now required
for practical reference on the mail coaches.
 The success
of Cary’s 'New and Correct English Atlas’ dated 1787,
was due in part, as Cary acknowledged, ‘to the information
and the material assistance, with which he was honoured by the Controller
General of the Post Office by being able to resort to official documents’.
Cary set up as a surveyor in 1790, and in 1794 John Cary was commissioned
by the Postmaster General to make a new survey measuring "the
whole of the Mail Coach Routes, and other principal Roads…amounting
to upwards of Nine Thousand Miles". This was a great opportunity
for Cary, who could gain experience over his rivals at no cost to
himself. He was free to advertise his official commission in any
future publication. He used this privilege to his advantage and
it generated considerable demand for his skills.
Cary’s business thrived and he almost cornered the market
in maps of roads, canals and the new science of geology. The fine
quality of his work was recognised by the Royal Society who awarded
him a gold medal in 1804.
Even today, John Cary's maps appear to be quite ‘modern’.
Cary’s English Atlas was the forerunner of the road atlases
that we use today.
John Cary's maps were used by the Mail Coach drivers on their
Coach and Four as they trundled the length and breadth of Britain.
The coaching era had considerable social and economic influences
in Britain, it is part of our heritage and was really the starting
point from which our present transport and communications systems
developed.
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