Emanuel Bowen

Emanuel Bowen (fl. 1714 † 1767 in London ) was an English engraver and cartographer who was known primarily for his cartographic representations of England and Wales.

Life and work

Bowen's life circumstances are largely in the dark. His creative period began around 1714 in London and lasted until his death in 1767. Though official cartographer of George II of Great Britain and Louis XV. was from France, he died penniless. His son Thomas, who continued his father's work initially died - also penniless - 1790 in a workhouse in Clerkenwell in the London Borough of Islington today.

Best known Bowen was his cards to England and Wales. The published 1720 by John Owen Street Atlas Britannica Depicta based on maps by John Ogilby, the Bowen extended historical facts and heraldic information. Together with Thomas Kitchin (1718-1784) Bowen was working on an atlas entitled The Large English Atlas, whose single tickets they sold in 1749 to the completion of the work in 1760.

Works (selection)

• Depicta Britannia: or, Ogilby improved. Being an actual survey of all the direct and principal cross roads of England and Wales ( 1720)
• A complete atlas, or distinct view of the known World: Exhibited in 68 Maps ( 1752)
• The large English Atlas: or a new set of maps of all the counties in England and Wales (1760 )
• The Royal English atlas: 18th century county maps of England and Wales ( 1765 )

Modern editions

• The Royal English atlas: 18th century county maps of England and Wales by Emanuel Bowen and Thomas Kitchin, reprint of the first edition of London, 1765, with an introduction by JB Harley, Newton Abbot 1971, ISBN 0-7153-5100-1.