about the cover illustration

The figure on the cover of Unity in Action, Second Edition is captioned “Habit of the Master of Ceremonies of the Grand Signior.” The Grand Signior was another name for a sultan of the Ottoman Empire. The illustration is taken from Thomas Jefferys’ A Collection of the Dresses of Different Nations, Ancient and Modern (4 volumes), London, published between 1757 and 1772. The title page states that these are hand-colored copperplate engravings, heightened with gum arabic. Thomas Jefferys (1719–1771), was called “Geographer to King George III.” An English cartographer who was the leading map supplier of his day, Jeffreys engraved and printed maps for government and other official bodies and produced a wide range of commercial maps and atlases, especially of North America. His work as a mapmaker sparked an interest in local dress customs of the lands he surveyed, which are brilliantly displayed in this four-volume collection.