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Item #17874 A New and Exact Map of the Dominions of the King of Great Britain on ye continent of North America containing Newfoundland, New Scotland, New England, New York, New Jersey, Pensilvania, Maryland, Virginia and Carolina. According to the newest and most exact observations. Herman MOLL, fl.

A New and Exact Map of the Dominions of the King of Great Britain on ye continent of North America containing Newfoundland, New Scotland, New England, New York, New Jersey, Pensilvania, Maryland, Virginia and Carolina. According to the newest and most exact observations

London: "Sold by H. Moll over against Deverux Court on the Strand" 1715. Copper-engraving, with period outline hand-colouring, on two joined sheets, overall size 41 1/2 x 24 7/8 inches.

Rare issue of the famous Beaver map: Stevens & Tree's first state.

"One of the first and most important cartographic documents relating to the dispute between France and Great Britain over boundaries separating their respective American colonies ... The map was the primary exponent of the British position during the period immediately following the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713" (Degrees of Latitude). The British colonies according to British claims are outlined in red, with the French outlined in yellow. All territory south of the St. Lawrence River and eastern Great Lakes is shown as British. Numerous notations relating to territorial claims, Indian tribes, the fur trade, and the condition of the land cover the face of the map. This map shows the early eighteenth century postal routes in the British colonies, and is frequently called the first American postal map. There are four insets, including a large map of coastal South Carolina, and a plan of Charleston. At lower left is a map of Florida and the Deep South, which is based on a map by Thomas Nairne, the Indian agent for South Carolina. The most striking feature is the large vignette which gives the map its popular name. It consists of an early view of Niagara Falls, with a colony of beavers at work in the foreground. Pritchard holds that the beaver "was an appropriate image for the North American map for two reasons: the animal's importance to the fur trade, and its industrious nature." This issue corresponds to Stevens and Tree's first state, but research by Ed Dahl of Quebec comparing the shape of Nova Scotia on two early issues indicate that this would be the 2nd state of six. (See The Map Collector, No. 47, Summer 1989 and No. 69, Winter, 1994).

Cumming, British Maps pp.6-12; Cumming, Southeast in Early Maps 158; Degrees of Latitude 19; Reinhartz, Herman Moll Geographer pp.18-36; Schwartz and Ehrenberg, Mapping of America pp.138, 144; Stevens and Tree Comparative Cartography, 55 (a, with variant imprint).

Item #17874

Price: $18,500.00

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