Daily entries from the 17th century London diary
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Wikipedia
| Joseph Moxon | |
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| Born | August 8, 1627 |
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| Died | February 28, 1691 (aged 63) |
Joseph Moxon (8 August 1627 - February 1691 [1]), Hydrographer to Charles II, was an English printer of mathematical books and maps, a maker of globes and mathematical instruments, and mathematical lexicographer. He produced the first English language dictionary devoted to mathematics. In November 1678 he became the first tradesman to be elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society.
Between the ages of around 9 and 11, Moxon accompanied his father, James Moxon, to Delft and Rotterdam where he was printing English Bibles. It was at this time that Moxon learned the basics of printing. After the First English Civil War the family returned to London, and Moxon and his older brother James started a printing business which specialized in the publication of Puritan texts, with the notable exception of A Book of Drawing, Limning, Washing or Colouring of Mapps and Prints of 1647 which was produced for Thomas Jenner, a seller of maps.
In 1652 Moxon visited Amsterdam and commissioned the engraving of globe-printing plates, and by the end of the year was selling large celestial and terrestrial globes in a new business venture. He specialized in the printing of maps and charts, and in the production of globes, and mathematical instruments made of paper.
In January 1662 he was appointed hydrographer to the King, despite his Puritan background. Moxon's 1683 book Mechanick Exercises provides descriptions of contemporary printing methods that have proved useful for bibliographers.
Moxon theorized that the Arctic was ice free, and warmed by twenty-four hours of sunlight in the summer. He also speculated that Arctic ice was created near land, and that if one sailed far enough northwards, one would be free of northern land masses and, subsequently, ice.
These views led him to believe that the Northwest passage would be found by sailing near the North Pole. These views later influenced Daines Barrington and Samuel Engel, whose refinement of Moxon's ideas would in turn influence Captain Cook's Third Voyage in search of the Northwest Passage.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Royal Society archives state his death date as 28 February; the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography states that he was buried on 15 February
Annotations
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From Wikipedia:
Joseph Moxon (8 August 1627 - February 1691), Hydrographer to Charles II, was an English printer of mathematical books and maps, a maker of globes and mathematical instruments, and mathematical lexicographer. He produced the first English language dictionary devoted to mathematics. In November 1678 he became the first tradesman to be elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society.
Between the ages of around 9 and 11, Moxon accompanied his father, James Moxon, to Delft and Rotterdam where he was printing English bibles. It was a this time that Moxon learned the basics of printing. After the First English Civil War the family returned to London and Moxon and his older brother James started a printing business which specialized in the publication of puritan texts, with the notable exception of A Book of Drawing, Limning, Washing or Colouring of Mapps and Prints of 1647 which was produced for Thomas Jenner, a seller of maps.
In 1652 Moxon visited Amsterdam and commissioned the engraving of globe-printing plates, and by the end of the year was selling large celestial and terrestrial globes in a new business venture. He specialized in the printing of maps and charts, and in the production of globes, and mathematical instruments made of paper.
In January 1662 he was appointed hydrographer to the King, despite his puritan background.
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Joseph Moxon – a few additional details
Moxon’s first publication was “A Tutor to Astronomy and Geography; or, An Easie and Speedy way to Understand the Use of both the Globes, Celestial and Terrestrial”. (1654) a translation from William Blaeu. Later he published under his own name “Astronomie and Geographie: Or an Easie and speedy way to Know the Use of both the Globes, Celestial and Terrestrial. In Six books” (1659)
He is, however best known for his “Mechanick Exercises,” one of the most famous works on typography an for forty years the first manual of printing in any language covering absolutely all that was known about the subjects at the end of the C 17th., and first put into writing a knowledge that was wholly traditional. “He did his work so well that it was appropriated by compilers of technical encyclopedias and printers’ grammars; so that parts of Moxon, disguised under other names, remained a standard work until the great part of printing had ceased to be a ‘handy work’ and his doctrine had a less obvious application to it.”
There is a full biography printed in the introduction to the modern standard edition:-
Mechanick Exercises on the Whole Art of Printing (1683 – 4) Edited by Herbert Davis & Harry Carter, Oxford: OUP, 1962 (2nd . ed.) (rpr. NY: Dover, 1978) pp. xix -lv