Thomas Salmon’s ‘Modern History’ has a complicated and somewhat unclear bibliographical history. It appears to have begun publication in 1724. What we do know is that the maps used to illustrate the work were engraved by Herman Moll (1654?-1732). He was born it is believed in Bremen, Germany, although he is often thought of as being Dutch. He is first recorded in London working on the Moses Pitt atlas in 1678. Much of his early work was undertaken for others or in partnership with the likes of Christopher Browne, Philip Lea, or Robert Morden. Moll’s earliest world atlases were geographical texts. He then moved to the opposite end of the size spectrum with the ‘World Described’, offering a series of elephant folio sized maps. A first attempt at a quarto sized atlas was the ‘Atlas Geographus’ issued in parts from 1711-17 which is extremely rare. This map covers the Moluccas and Spice Islands of the East Indies and extends from the eastern shore of Borneo to the western portion of New Guinea. McCorkle (2009) 346; Shirley (2004) G.Salm 1a.