Summary
As
can be seen from the works quoted, Cooke was certainly resident at various London
addresses until circa 1812 and his work there is fairly well documented. We
have a large number of published work and accompanying some of these, such as
the Circular Atlas, the Universal Atlas and the Synopsis of
Geography, we have newspaper advertisements and reviews. We can trace his
movements from his various addresses and we have evidence that, in common with
many sole traders of the times, he was twice imprisoned for short periods for
debt. Besides the three works mentioned above, one of Cooke´s final two works, the
smaller scale version with “London” as his address of the large map for the St
Aubyn family, reappear with a west country connection.
All
work by John Cooke before 1812 has a London address including the original map for
the St Aubyn family. Obviously in order to engrave the map, Cooke did not need
to visit Plymouth but something sparked an interest in the west country. This John
Cooke had worked for the Admiralty, albeit for a relatively short period. We
have 20 signed works, including an atlas and a manual of mapmaking executed up
to 1812 with London addresses (or no address) and no association with Devon or
Cornwall. Additionally, we have one map with a London address of Plymouth Dock.
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 1813, using his
London contacts for the distribution of his Synopsis
of Geography (which he had doubtless nearly completed by 1812), however, we
then 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.
There
is no doubt that there was a strong link between John Cooke and Mrs Elizabeth
Nile and the Copper Plate Engraving and Printing Office between Autumn 1815 and
1820/21. The clearest indication that the John Cooke of London is identical to
the Plymouth engraver must be the evidence provided by the two part-works that
appeared in 1816, both with Mrs Nile as publisher. The text sections of both
parts are clearly not copies, they are the original printed sheets reissued
with new title pages. The four Plates in that part titled An Historical
Introduction to the Sciences are clearly the same plates published in
Cooke´s Synopsis of Geography. The various imprints which are found
imply that some of the plates were already available in 1800 for his aborted Ladies´
Circular Atlas and then recycled, to use the modern equivalent.
From the registration records of his children, he was certainly resident in Plymouth from 1813 at the latest, first “opposite the RN Hospital”, in Fore Street, later at various addresses in Union Street. Very often this was the same address being used by Mrs Nile. Cooke is listed in Pigot´s 1830 directory[1] as engraver and copper plate printer at 82 Union Street (but under Miscellaneous) and Mrs Nile is not listed - 48 Union Street was now occupied by the baker Thomas Philips (Mrs Nile’s address in the maps and charts of 1819/1820). The map in the Tourist's Companion of 1823 only gives the address as Union Street. The (circumstantial) evidence would point to Cooke working closely with, or even taking over, Mrs Nile´s business soon after 1820 and moving along the street (to larger/smaller premises) before 1827. Robert Brindley´s Plymouth, Stonehouse and Devonport Directory of 1830 has John Cooke in Union Street and an Eliz. Nile at 85 Union Street.
John
Cooke of London was active for the Admiralty between 1802 and 1805 and John Cooke, Geographer, and late engraver to
the Admiralty completed his General Synopsis
of Geography in 1812. This was sold by a wide variety of agents including
both Rees & Curtis and by Nettleton and Son, both Plymouth based companies.
Rees and Curtis were the original publishers of The Picture of Plymouth (1812) and one edition of The Tourist’s Companion was published by
Nettleton (1828). It would seem within the bounds of possibility that Cooke visited
Devon to survey his original map(s) of Plymouth, liked the area and stayed and
may have worked for, or even gone into partnership with, Mrs Nile, before setting
up completely on his own.
There are only two maps so far discovered
from the London period with signature noting engraver to the Admiralty, there is one map from this period and the
Synopsis with late engraver … – possibly this was not so important (or not
expected) in the works executed for others but once in Plymouth, he used this
terminology occasionally, strengthening the link between London and Plymouth.
We
know of 17 maps and plans executed between this 1811-dated map and the final
breakwater chart of 1845. Assuming the breakwater plan was produced to pre-empt
the completion of the lighthouse in 1843 and John produced the plan in his 80th
year as stated, 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.
Since publication of the first edition of this
work (2009) both the new updated edition of Tooley´s original work and the
definitive work on British map makers now rightfully credit John Cooke with all
his work.[2]
There is still a lot that we do not know, or do
not know for certain. We have a plausible chronology concerning his signed work
and can safely assign 35 separate cartographic works, plus a variety of other
work, to his name. In addition, there is one chart in his style and executed in
the same printing and engraving works noted on three of his maps. We know John
Cooke engraved six separate plans of the Plymouth area but we do not know who
commissioned them or who drew the original maps. Only two are signed: Cooke’s
plan for the Aubyn family was “Surveyed, drawn and published” by T Richards of
Totnes (19); and the Plan of the Town and Harbour ... (25)
was “Surveyed, drawn and published” by S Elliott of Plymouth, who also drew the
Edgcumbe Park plan (24A).
John Cooke may have played more of a major role
in the output of The Copper Plate Engraving and Printing Office than that of an
engraver and he may have had more than a working relationship with Mrs Elizabeth
Nile, who seems to have been the owner when he arrived in Plymouth. He probably
worked with rather than for the company. But what did he do in the
intervening years?
A couple called John and Elizabeth Cooke had six children in Plymouth who were born only a couple of years after a John Cooke married Elizabeth Beecham in an area of London not far from where John Cooke had lived and worked. The full story of John Cooke has still not been told.
Fig.
42. Certified
Copy of an Entry of Death dated 1845. John Cooke died at home at 82, Union Street,
Stonehouse at age 80.
Links to sections of I - London
John Cooke of Howland Street (1799-1805)
The Ladies Circular Atlas and “Mr Barrow”
The Rev. Thomas Smith & The Universal Atlas
John Cooke and the Admiralty (1802-1805)
Between the Admiralty and Plymouth (1805-1812)
Links to section II - Plymouth.
Stonehouse (1813-1845)
Napoleon and Cooke´s first Plymouth engravings
The Copper-Plate Engraving, and Printing Office (1815-21)
John Cooke of Union Street, Stonehouse (1823-1845)
Summary
Return to Introduction
Link to IV: Short List of John Cooke's works.
Notes to Summary
[1] Pigot and Co.´s
National Commercial Directory, 1830. William Byers, 32 Fore St. Devonport,
is included as (printer) to his Royal Highness the Duke of Clarence.
[2] Cooke´s full listing is included in British Map Engravers by Laurence
Worms and
Ashley-Baynton-Williams;
Rare Book Society; London; 2011.The First and Second Editions of this work were
privately printed and lodged with most major UK libraries as well as WDRO and
DevA.
