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Joseph Moxon | |
|---|---|
 Engraving of Joseph Moxon, 1692, byFrederick Hendrik van Hove. | |
| Born | (1627-08-08)8 August 1627 |
| Died | February 1691(1691-02-00) (aged 63) |
| Nationality | English |
Joseph Moxon (8 August 1627 – February 1691),[1]hydrographer toCharles II, was anEnglish printer specialising in mathematical books and maps, a maker of globes andmathematical instruments, and mathematicallexicographer. He produced the first English-language dictionary devoted to mathematics, the first detailed instructional manual for printers, and the first English-language how-to books for tradesmen. In November 1678, he became the first tradesman to be elected as aFellow of the Royal Society.
Joseph Moxon was born on 8 August 1627 inWakefield,Yorkshire. Around 1638, at an age between 9 and 11, he accompanied his father,James Moxon, toDelft andRotterdam where James was printing English Bibles. It was at this time that Moxon learned the basics of printing.
After theFirst English Civil War the family returned toLondon and Moxon and his older brother, James, started a printing business which specialized in the publication ofPuritan texts, with the notable exception ofA Book of Drawing, Limning, Washing or Colouring of Mapps and Prints of 1647 which was produced forThomas Jenner, a seller of maps.
In 1652, Moxon visitedAmsterdam and commissioned the engraving ofglobe-printing plates, and by the end of the year was selling large celestial and terrestrial globes in a new business venture. He specialised in the printing of maps and charts, and in the production of globes, and mathematical instruments made of paper.
Moxon'sMechanick exercises was published in parts between 1677 and 1684. It was completed in two volumes: the first giving instructions on metalworking, woodworking, brick-laying and sundial-construction; and the second (issued 1683–1684) providing a detailed series of instructions for printers, includingtypefounding, composition, press-work etc., which have given printing historians much (probably idealised) information on the working practices of hand-press period printing-houses.[2]
In January 1662, he was appointed hydrographer to the King, despite his Puritan background. His shop at this time was onLudgate Hill; afterwards, in 1683, it was "on the west side ofFleet Ditch", but always "at the sign ofAtlas".[3]
Moxon theorized that theArctic 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 theNorthwest Passage would be found by sailing near theNorth Pole. These views later influencedDaines Barrington andSamuel Engel, whose refinement of Moxon's ideas would influenceCaptain Cook's Third Voyage in search of the Northwest Passage.
When Moxon died in 1691 his estate and business was carried on by his son, mapmaker, engraver and instrument-maker James Moxon.[4]
