John Rocque

Detail from Rocque's city map of London (1741-5)

John Rocque , actually Jean Rocque (* before 1709 ; † January 27, 1762 or later) was a cartographer and engraver of Huguenot origin.

Life

Rocque's parents had four sons and emigrated to London in 1709 . Little is known about Rocque's childhood, and his dates of birth have not survived, but according to John Varley it has been proven that he became the godfather of Jean Vivares, the son of a copperplate engraver, in 1728, which at the time required a minimum age of 21 years.

In his youth, Rocque also worked as a garden designer when he lived with his brother Bartholomew and came to engraving through the development of garden plans. He submitted plans for Wrest Park (1735) and the gardens of Claremont House (1738), Painshill Park in Surrey (1744) and Wilton House (1746), among others . Over time he developed into one of the most important English cartographers with a large workshop. In a fire in 1750 he lost all of his printing blocks , but was able to resume production relatively quickly. In 1751 he was appointed cartographer to the Prince of Wales and worked on the atlas: The Small British Atlas: Being a New set of Maps of all the Counties of England and Wales , which appeared in 1753 and was reprinted in 1762.

Rocque's Plan of London (24 sheets on a scale of 26 inches / mile ) is particularly well known . His Dublin plan temporarily graced the Irish £ 10 note.

Rocques was married twice. Whether he had children is as little known as the exact date of his death.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ John Varley: John Rocque. Engraver, Surveyor, Cartographer and Map-seller. Reprint edition, Amsterdam: Nico Israel, 1965. p. 84.

literature

John Varley: John Rocque. Engraver, Surveyor, Cartographer and Map-seller. Reprint edition, Amsterdam: Nico Israel, 1965.