Early years in London Moll probably sold his first maps from a stall in various places in London. From 1688 he had his own shop in Wanley's Court in London's
Blackfriars. Between 1691 and 1710 his business was located at the corner of
Spring Gardens and
Charing Cross, and he finally moved along the River Thames to the Strand where he remained until his death. In the 1690s, Moll worked mainly as an engraver for Christopher Browne,
Robert Morden and Lea, in whose business he was also involved. In the first years of the eighteenth century, Moll began to compile and engrave maps solely under his own name.
Work as an independent publisher In 1701
A System of Geography, a geographical reference book, was published featuring many maps engraved by Moll. Several subsequent editions were issued, and Moll's name became so closely associated with it that it was often called "Moll's Geography". In the years that followed he brought out several volumes including
Fifty-six new and accurate maps of Great Britain, a book of maps of the British Isles. In 1707 he began his
Atlas Geographus, which appeared in monthly deliveries from 1707 to 1717, and eventually comprised five volumes. This included a full geographical representation of the world in colour maps and illustrations. As with his earlier works, the
Atlas Geographus was eagerly copied and imitated. In 1710 he began producing artfully crafted pocket globes. These were each a pair of globes, with the larger, hinged celestial globe encircling a smaller globe. On the latter he often included the route of
Dampier's circumnavigation. These globes are very rare today. In 1715 Moll issued
The World Described, a collection of thirty large, double-sided maps which saw numerous editions. In these maps Moll's skill as an engraver is particularly clear. These were bound separately and then later sold in the form of atlases in a joint venture between a number of other publishers. The series included two of the most famous Moll maps:
A new and exact map of the dominions of the King of Great Britain and
To The Right Honorable John Lord Sommers...This Map of North America According To Ye Newest and Most Exact Observations. These were distinctive for their elaborate
cartouches and images, and are known respectively as the
Beaver Map and the
Codfish Map. As with much of his work, Moll used these maps to publicize and support British policy and regional claims throughout the world. The Codfish Map shows in its cartouches a scene from the
cod fisheries off
Newfoundland. Since the beginning of the 16th century the cod fishery there was an important economic factor for the European
colonial powers. At the time of issue, the battle over fishing rights was one of the central points of contention in the North American policy of France and England. With its depiction of the processing of freshly caught cod for shipment to Europe, Moll highlighted for subscribers and viewers the importance of this sector for his native England. Moll labelled the Atlantic Ocean as the "Sea of the British Empire" and stressed the British claims to fishing rights off the coast of
Newfoundland. In a West India map from the same series, he wrote in the southwestern corner of Carolina the words "Spanish Fort Deserted" and "Good Ground". On many of its North American maps – including on the Beaver Map – he drew particular attention to major ports streets, because he knew that was a sufficient infrastructure detail, communicating that for the further expansion of English power it was very important. Pritchard argues that the Beaver Map was "one of the first and most important cartographic documents relating to the ongoing dispute between France and Great Britain over boundaries separating their respective American colonies ... The map was the primary exponent of the British position during the period immediately following the
Treaty of Utrecht in 1713." His maps were also used by other powers to attempt support for their claims. One of Moll's maps of the island of
Newfoundland, published in the 1680s, showed
Pointe Riche, the southern limit of the
French Shore, to be situated at 47°40' North latitude. In 1763 the
French attempted to use this map to establish their claim to the west coast of Newfoundland and
Labrador, arguing that Point Riche and
Cape Ray were the same headland. Governor
Hugh Palliser and Captain
James Cook found evidence to refute Moll's claim, and in 1764 the French accepted the placement of Pointe Riche near
Port au Choix. However, all political considerations aside, Moll's maps were in his lifetime and after probably quite popular given the high number that survive, and are still among the most sought-after aesthetic engravings in the
history of cartography. ==Contemporaries==