John Cooke                  Engraver and Publisher: 1765 - 1845                         JOHN COOKE – of London and Plymouth THIRD EDITION Newly Revised 2024  INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION to The Third Edition 2024   I am an avid collector of Devon guidebooks and soon became aware that a certain John Cooke had either engraved, or engraved and published, plans of the Plymouth area or of its breakwater which expanded in to an article about Plymouth Breakwater. [1] Over the years I managed to acquire a number of maps and plans depicting this monumental enterprise and Cooke´s name appeared several times. The name John Cooke is certainly not rare. However, there appeared to be two or even three engravers of that name around this time, with two operating from London, the other from Stonehouse, Plymouth, not counting the other Cookes active in the book and printing trades at th...

  London Confusion Towards the end of the 18 th century and the dawn of the 19 th there were literally thousands engaged in the printing and allied trades in London. Many printers were also publishers, many engravers worked for multiple employers and the book printing, binding and retail trades were rapidly expanding. The area between Holborn in the north and the Strand in the south was littered with businesses engaged in publishing in one form or another. It is not surprising then that many people shared the same family name, but the number of Cookes, and specifically J Cook(e) made it difficult to identify a single person. The BBTI [1] has almost 65 entries for Cook or Cooke, with 9 entries for J (or I) Cook/e in London and one each in Plymouth and Exeter for this period. These included printers, booksellers, publishers, compositors, bookbinders, engraver/etcher, even paper-hanger and rag merchant. Ian Maxted [2] , well-known and respected for his work on the printing trades i...

  John Cooke of Union Street, Stonehouse (1823-1845)   When, in 1823, another plan of the breakwater was published ( 30 ), Cookes Plymouth Breakwater with the transverse section of the completed section , Cooke´s address is 48 Union Street for the first time. There is no mention of the Copper-Plate Engraving and Printing Office or of Mrs Nile.     Fig. 35. Print of the Royal Hotel and Plymouth Theatre.   Apart from his maps and charts, not many other engraved works by Cooke have been discovered. Besides the dedication and the heraldic arms for Gilbert already mentioned, Somers Cocks [1] lists a J Cooke for only two topographical prints; the first is of the Royal Hotel and Plymouth Theatre designed by John Foulston and completed 1818 (80 x 310 mm). This was published and sold separately, has Cooke´s address as 48 Union Street (Mrs Nile’s address) and is tentatively dated to 1820 ( Fig. 35 ), although according to a newspaper advertisement John Whitten ...