The Thornton Sea Atlas from the NYPL
8/29/24 (updated 11/29/25)The Thornton Sea Atlas, also known as "Atlas Maritimus or the Sea-Atlas," was a maritime atlas published in the late 17th and early 18th century by John Thornton, an English cartographer. It contained hydrographical descriptions and sea-charts covering various coasts of the known world at that time. Thornton was part of the Thames School of cartographers who helped advance English maritime cartography and moved from hand-drawn maps to printed charts. The atlas was an important tool for navigation, especially for English colonies in North America, the West Indies, and other areas, providing mariners with detailed charts for their voyages. After John Thornton's death, his business and stock of charts were acquired by the well-known chartmaker Mount & Page, which continued the tradition of producing nautical charts based on Thornton's work.Source: Perplexity.aiCurated by G. Ly
