Baptized November 24, 1678-Died 1740: John Senex was an English engraver and one of the leading cartographers of the 18th century.[1] As an important scholar of geography during the time, he was elected in 1728 as a Fellow of the Royal Society of London. He published a map, A New Map of Africa (1721), the most up to date depiction of the geography of Africa. Along with his maps of Africa, he created and distributed A New General Atlas (1721), which “remains the most elegant English world atlas of the time.”[2] Senex’s combined work as an important cartographer of the 18th century landed him in good standing with the monarchy as, “Geographer to the Queen.”[3]
[1] “Senex, John 1678-1740,” Cyclopaedia, date accessed April 26, 2012, http://www.cyclopaedia.org/senex/senexnotes.html.
[2] Laurence Worms, “Senex, John,” Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004, http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/25085.
[3] R.V. Tooley, “Senex, John,” Collectors’ Guide to Maps of the African Continent and Southern Africa, London: Carta Press, 1969: 108.
