John Cowley was a professor of mathematics at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, London, for a number of years between 1761 and 1773.
Another one of his works of some note, but less famous than The Counties, was A new and easy introduction to the study of geography which was published by Thomas Cox and James Hodges.
Among his works are remembered the superb engravings representing the constellation drawn on glass globes created by Thomas Heath.
[2] He taught geometry to subscribers of the St. Martin's Lane Academy, a drawing school established by William Hogarth and John Ellys.
He had a daughter called Mrs Johnstone who inherited her father's passion for science and over the years instructed many members of the British nobility in the use of globes and maps.