John Seller (c.1627-97) was born the son of Henry Sellers, a cord wayner, between 1627 and 1630 in Wapping, London. He was apprenticed to Edward Lowe who was presumably an instrument maker as this was the profession chosen by Seller. He appears to have been a Baptist at a time when Nonconformists were not popular. Following the Restoration of King Charles II in 1660, there were understandably a number of treasonable plots against him. In 1662 six men were arrested in one such plot led by Thomas Tonge, amongst them was John Seller. The trial was held in the Old Bailey in December. The published details show that Seller was clearly not involved although he was a friend of one of the men and had been seen talking to another. In spite of the evidence he was convicted and sentenced. Seller and one James Hind escaped execution, the others being hanged on 22 December. Seller remained in Newgate Prison until the spring of 1663. He was granted release on bail and eventually granted a pardon.

Seller’s main income derived from instrument making and navigation, and he was even interested in their use. He wrote ‘Praxis Nautica or Practical Navigation’ in 1669, dealing with all aspects of navigation such as instruments, mathematics, almanacs and tables. It was an immediate success and was issued in numerous further editions. It was at this time he turned to publishing maps, at first specialising in sea charts for which he saw a domestic market. Expanding in to topographical maps he entered in to all sorts of projects but lacked the commercial ability to carry them through successfully. In the ‘London Gazette’ for November 1679 John Seller along with John Oliver the surveyor and the engraver Richard Palmer announced their intention to publish a folio English County atlas to be titled ‘Atlas Anglicanus’. At the beginning of the following year they announced in the ‘Term Catalogues’ that maps of Middlesex, Surrey and Hertfordshire were available and that Kent was underway. Unfortunately only two more counties were produced, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire. The project languished until the partnership broke up in 1693 when the maps were sold to Philip Lea.

The map bears a decorative compass rose in the upper right corner and three ornate cartouche. Originally the title bore the imprints of Seller, Oliver and Palmer. Only three examples are recorded. This is one of only six folio county maps produced by Seller. Later Philip Lea would include them in some examples of his Saxton atlas entitled ‘The Shires of England and Wales’ available from c.1693. For this second state the imprint in the title now bears only that of Seller which is also added to the dedication lower right. The arms of Roger Earle and Edward Semour are added to the left border. Some rivers and tributaries have also been added or extended. A later state dated 1733 bearing the imprint of Thomas Bowles was recorded by Fordham in 1914 but has not been located since. Hodson (1974) 16.ii; Hodson (1985) ‘Four County Maps of Hertfordshire’ pp. 1-3; Parker (2017) p. 144; Skelton (1970) pp. 186-7, nos. 112 & 115; Worms & Baynton-Williams (2011).