The Bible Atlas was printed in 1819 by publishers N. & S.S. Jocelyn. Nathaniel and Simeon Smith Joyce. A bio of the Joyce brothers is featured on the auction site PB Galleries in accompaniment with an 1825 edition of an Anti-slavery Map:
The World, Engraved by N. & S.S. Jocelyn (1825)
“In their early twenties, the Jocelyn brothers…went into successful partnership as engravers of bank notes and maps, a temporary avocation while Simeon studied theology at Yale and Nathaniel prepared to become a portrait painter.” (PB Galleries)
The Bible Atlas, printed six-years prior to this beautiful map, bears markings of more novice workmanship that the skill displayed in the map above, but the Bible Atlas perhaps better demonstrates the marriage of the brothers’ individual skills.
The “General Map of Canaan” features the most painted detailing of all the maps
Nathaniel Joyce’s entry in The Grove Encyclopedia of Art, Volume 1 suggests that Nathaniel’s interest in printing was a family affair, having been taught a rudimentary knowledge of engraving by his father, Simeon Joyce, who was a clock-maker by trade. With the help of his theologian brother Simeon Smith, the company N. & S.S. Jocelyn was formed in 1818. (Marter 638) The maps of the Bible Atlas were likely printed using wood-cut blocks, which Nathaniel would then have to paint by hand.
In his studies as a theologian at Yale, Simeon would have had access to scripture maps that were unavailable to the general public, and as an aspiring artist Nathaniel was more than equipped to hand paint the water-coloured details of the Bible Atlas. The Bible Atlas represents an intersect between Simeon’s interests in religion and instructional teaching, and Nathaniel’s developing painting and printing abilities.
Marter, Joan. The Grove Encyclopedia of American Art, Volume 1. New York: Oxford UP, 2011. Print.