PAYNE, John. Universal Geography formed into a new and entire System; describing Asia, Africa, Europe, and America; with their subdivisions of Empires, Kingdoms, States, and Republics:

A LANDMARK IN DUBLIN PRINTING COMPLETE WITH 74 MAPS AND PLATES

The extent, boundaries, and remarkable appearances of each country; cities, towns, and curiosities of nature and art. Also giving a general account of the fossil and vegetable productions of the earth, and of every species of animal. The History of Man, in all climates, regions and conditions; Customs, Manners, Laws, Governments, and Religions: the state of Arts, Sciences, Commerce, Manufactures, and Knowledge: sketches of the Ancient and Modern History of each Nation and People. To which is added, A Short View of Astronomy, as Connected with Geography; of the Planetary System to which the Earth belongs; and of the Universe in General. With a set of maps, drawn from the best materials, every one of which is coloured; and a great variety of copper-plates, descriptive of the most remarkable curiosities of nature. Hand-coloured botanical frontispiece to each volume. Large list of subscribers. Three volumes. Dublin: Printed by Zachariah Jackson, (No 5), New Buildings, Sackville Street, 1794. Quarto. pp. (1) [ii], vi (subscribers), [i], x-xiii, 894, (2) [ii], 792, (3) [ii], 416, xxxiii, [1], 10. (Double column). Volume 1 is dated 1793. Contemporary full tree calf, spines professionally rebacked, preserving original contrasting labels. Armorial bookplate of Sir William Chatterton, Bart. on front pastedowns. An exceptionally fine and fresh set of this comprehensive gazetteer of the world. Extremely rare

COPAC listing only 1 location [TCD] with a three volume set. ESTC T202828.
Zachariah Jackson, printer, publisher, bookseller, and bookbinder, was one of the most active members of the Dublin book trade from 1788 to 1799. Between 1793 and 1795 he printed and published a number of titles including the Universal Family Bible, issued in fifty numbers, illustrated with engraved plates, and with list of subscribers. The King’s printer, George Grierson, challenged Zachariah for printing the Bible, which had annotations by Benjamin Kennicott; in the Court of Chancery. The Lord Chancellor, Lord Clare, refused to give a ruling until the patent privileges had been established at law. The case was dismissed and that decision infuriated Grierson, who did not take any further action.
It was during this dispute that Jackson also published Payne’s Universal Geography, with a greatly enlarged and illustrated Irish section. This work along with Chambers’ Cyclopaedia (D. 1787), and the Dublin edition of Encyclopaedia Britannica, were the most ambitious and impressive book productions of late eighteenth century Dublin. The illustrations and maps are superbly engraved and complement this magnificent publication, with its three hand-coloured frontispieces. Zachariah Jackson left Ireland for France at the beginning of the nineteenth century, where according to himself, he spent up to eleven years in ‘captivity’. From France he went to London where he continued publishing for the next twenty years.
The subscribers include: Major Sirr, Dr. O’Halloran, Dr. Ledwich, Archibald Ham. Rowan, James O’Conner, Ben Johnson, John Keogh, Esq., Lady Palmer, George La Touche, William Tighe, Mr. Vesey, James Vallance, Bookseller, Earl of Westmeath, Rev. James Whitelaw, and P. Moore, Bookseller, who ordered 100 copies, etc. It is very rare in spite of the very large subscription. Our set is probably one of the only complete sets extant.
John Payne (fl. c. 1780 - c. 1800) was a little known American cartographer and map publisher working in New York and Philadelphia in the last years of the 19th century. He is a somewhat mysterious figure of which little is known, but his work is important as one of the first examples of commercial cartography. His most important publication is the present work. In describing the subjects of Natural History, neither the scientific names, nor the classical arrangement have been given, as such a method of treating the subject was deemed improper for a work calculated for the perusal of general readers, and should be confined to such writings as process to investigate that valuable branch of knowledge systematically. The form, properties, and most striking peculiarities of each subject, animate or inanimate, generally comprehend the whole of the description. This method of treating the subject Dr. Goldsmith describes as “more amusing; exhibiting new pictures to the imagination, and improving our relish for existence, by widening the prospect of nature around us.” The historical sketches which are interspersed in this work, have been rendered as comprehensive as the limits assigned to them would admit. They are not borrowed from compendiums of history, but drawn from the best sources of information which could be obtained. The account of the late revolution in France, was written soon after the event: causes were then assigned as producing it, the justness of which has since received considerable confirmation. What is faid of the constitution of Great Britain and Ireland is more the result of observation and reflection than of reading: how far it has any claim to originality will be best determined by those who have made that subject their particular study. In the short view which is taken of the metropolis of Great Britain and Ireland, the manufactures which are carried on in London and Dublin, and their environs, have been attempted to be enumerated, which no other writer appears to have done.

Many of the Whole-sheet Maps which accompany this work, have been engraved from original drawings, made under the Author’s inspection, from the best materials which could be procured in Europe; particularly the following; the East Indies; the Turkish Empire in Europe, Asia, and Africa; the Russian Empire in Europe; the Kingdoms of Sweden, Denmark, and Norway; the Empire of Germany; the Netherlands, or Low Countries in general; Spain and Portugal; France; the West Iindies, and the United States of North America.

The author relates in this Universal Geography that “It is proper to take notice, that the plan of this work is, in some measure, formed upon that of a geographical publication which appeared in the year 1765, and was chiefly the production of the late Mr. Joseph Collyer; but scarcely any other conformity remains between the two works, than in the arrangement of the subjects. In the various large and expensive works which are offered to the public, the author’s anxieties are generally relieved, and his emolument secured, by entering into an engagement with Booksellers; in the present publication the author has written, printed,, and engraved, without any assistance or support; and he looks for a recompense only from the favourable manner in which the impartial public shall receive his labours, uninfluenced by the breath of interested applause and recommendation. Determined to do justice to his subject, as far as his abilities enabled him, the heavy and increasing weight of expense has not led him either to examine or write in a superficial and hasty manner.”

He is a somewhat mysterious figure of which little is known, but his work is important as one of the first examples of commercial cartography. His most important publication is the present work. In describing the subjects of Natural History, neither the scientific names, nor the classical arrangement have been given, as such a method of treating the subject was deemed improper for a work calculated for the perusal of general readers, and should be confined to such writings as prosess to investigate that valuable branch of knowledge systematically. The form, properties, and most striking peculiarities of each subject, animate or inanimate, generally comprehend the whole of the description. This method of treating the subject Dr. Goldsmith describes as “more amusing; exhibiting new pictures to the imagination, and improving our relish for existence, by widening the prospect of nature around us.” The historical sketches which are interspersed in this work, have been rendered as comprehensive as the limits assigned to them would admit. They are not borrowed from compendiums of history, but drawn from the best sources of information which could be obtained. The account of the late revolution in France, was written soon after the event: causes were then assigned as producing it, the justness of which has since received considerable confirmation. What is faid of the constitution of Great Britain and Ireland is more the result of observation and reflection than of reading: how far it has any claim to originality will be best determined by those who have made that subject their particular study. In the short view which is taken of the metropolis of Great Britain and Ireland, the manufactures which are carried on in London and Dublin, and their environs, have been attempted to be enumerated, which no other writer appears to have done.

Contents: Vol I. Asia and Africa, with an appendix on Commodore Byron’s First Voyage; Captain Wallis’s First Voyage; Captain Cartaret’s Voyage, and Lieutenant Cook’s First, Second and Third Voyages. Vols. II & III. Europe, including Great Britain and Ireland, and the Americas, North and South. The extensive section on Ireland covers 82 pages and includes a large folding coloured map of Ireland, folding plan of Dublin in 1793, eighteen plates (2 folding).

Provenance: Sir William Abraham Chatterton, 2nd Baronet (1794-1855) was an Irish baronet. Chatterton was educated at Trinity College, Dublin. He was succeeded by his brother Sir James Charles Chatterton, 3rd Baronet. The Chatterton Baronetcy, of Castle Mahon, in the County and City of Cork, was a title in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 3 August 1801 for James Chatterton, member of the Irish House of Commons for Doneraile (1783) and Baltimore (1781), who also held the offices of King’s Serjeant, and Keeper of the State Papers. His family had come to Ireland in the time of Elizabeth I. Thomas Chatterton received a grant of land at Ardee in 1573. The family subsequently moved to County Cork.

The first Baronet had two sons, who each inherited the title in turn. The third Baronet, James Charles, served as MP for Cork from 1849 to 1852 and as High Sheriff of County Cork for 1851; he was also a distinguished soldier who as a young officer had fought in the Peninsular War and at the Battle of Waterloo, later becoming a General in the British Army. His only son died in infancy, and the baronetcy became extinct on his death in 1874