PINKERTON, John. 17480

£75

Description

Autograph Letter Signed ‘J.Pinkerton’, to “Monsieur General”, thanking him for his letter and making arrangements to meet. In French. 1 page 9 x 7 inches, lightly toned. [Paris] Vendredi, 3 Ventose XIII [22 February 1805]. John Pinkerton (1758 – 1826), Scottish antiquarian, cartographer, author, ballad forger, numismatist, historian, and early advocate of Germanic racial supremacy theory. His other works included Recollections of Paris in the Years 1802–5 (1806); a very useful General Collection of Voyages and Travels (1808–1814); a New Modern Atlas (1808–1819); and his Petralogy (1811). Pinkerton was a celebrated master of the Edinburgh school of cartography which lasted from roughly 1800 to 1830. Pinkerton, along with John Thomson & Co. and John Cary, redefined cartography by exchanging the elaborate cartouches and fantastical beasts used in the 18th century for more accurate detail. Pinkerton’s main work was the “Pinkerton’s Modern Atlas” published from 1808 through 1815 with an American version by Dobson & Co. in 1818. Pinkerton maps are today greatly valued for their quality, size, colouration, and detail.