England.- [Seller (John)] The English Pilot. Part I Describing The Sea-Coasts, Capes, Head-Lands, Bays, Roads, Harbours, Rivers and Ports, 31 double-page engraved charts, some folding, one map and numerous woodcut costal profiles within text, some light creasing at folds, but overall a clean example, contemporary red straight-grain morocco, gilt, skilfully and sympathetically rebacked, some light rubbing and marking, folio, Richard Mount and Thomas Page, 1704.

Provenance:
Bloomsbury Auctions, London, 21st May 2015, lot 388

⁂ Attractive example of this rare edition of the first series of chart-books published in England, possibly the only extant copy of this edition (unrecorded on ESTC, not listed on COPAC or WorldCat). While not the earliest English map- and chart-publisher, there is truth in the statement that Seller is the father of the English map trade, directly connected to many of the leading figures in the map trade into the 19th century. He was also the first English chart-publisher to make a real attempt to break the dominance of Dutch marine publishers such as the Blaeus, Coloms, Doncker, Goos and de Wit.