A NEW MAP OF THE WESTERN PARTS OF VIRGINIA, PENNSYLVANIA, MARYLAND AND NORTH CAROLINA; COMPREHENDING THE RIVER OHIO, AND THE RIVERS, WHICH FALL INTO IT; PART OF THE RIVER MISSISSIPPI, THE WHOLE OF THE ILLINOIS, LAKE ERIE; PART OF LAKE HURON, MICHIGAN &c. AND ALL THE COUNTRY BORDERING ON THESE LAKES AND RIVERS.
Hutchins, Thomas:
London: Published according to Act of Parliament by T. Hutchins, 1778. Folding map, 36 1/4 x 44 inches, on four joined sheets, with bright period outline wash color. A little browning at joints. Library stamp of "Depot de la Marine" at lower right. Docketed on verso: "N° 128. de la boite / n° 29." / "Virginie, Pennsylvanie / &c. / Par Thos. Hutchins. / 1778. (En Anglais.)." Overall a fine copy. Accompanied by the text of Hutchins' work (see description below). A remarkable work of American cartography, being both the first true general map of the American Midwest and the first meaningful large-scale depiction of the trans- Appalachian Country. This great map extends from western New York in the northeast, Cape Fear in the southeast, the Wisconsin River in the northwest, to the Arkansas River in the southwest. Thomas Hutchins was a seminal figure in the surveying and mapping of the United States. He began his career as a topographical engineer for the British Army during the French and Indian War. From 1758 to 1777 he served in the newly acquired Ohio Valley, designing the fortifications at Fort Pitt in 1763. In the following year he accompanied Bouquet on his expedition against the western Indians. The result was his map of the country on the Ohio and Muskingum rivers, published in London in 1766. Hutchins was a member of the exploring party sent down the Ohio Valley in 1766 to investigate the territory recently acquired from France, and on this occasion he conducted "the first accurate map, or more properly, hydrographic survey [of the Ohio River]" (Brown). Hutchins was stationed at Fort Chartres on the Illinois bank of the Mississippi from 1768 to 1770. He subsequently went to England, where he compiled this great map from his exhaustive personal surveys, and information gathered from many sources. The depiction of the Ohio immediately below Fort Pitt, for example, seems to be based on a manuscript by John Montresor. Brown notes that its publication in 1778 represented "the culmination of a long career as an engineer and mapmaker in the wilderness of North America." Hutchins returned to America in 1781 and was appointed "Geographer to the United States" by Congress. In 1783 he was a member of the commission that surveyed the Mason-Dixon Line, and in 1785 was appointed by Congress to the commission that surveyed the New York- Massachusetts boundary. Under the Ordinance of 1785 he was placed in charge of the surveying of the public lands in the Northwest Territory. He died in 1789, shortly after completing the survey of the "Seven Ranges" in Ohio. Hutchins is frequently credited with establishing the excellent system under which all of the public lands of the United States were subsequently surveyed and divided into townships, ranges, and sections. His 1778 map was the foundation document for the mapping of the Ohio Valley in the late 18th century. The depiction of the trans- Appalachian region on Thomas Jefferson's famous map in his NOTES ON THE STATE OF VIRGINIA (1787), for example, was taken directly from Hutchins. The map shows the western claims of Virginia and North Carolina based upon their 17th-century royal charters. It is filled with exhaustive data throughout, with a fascinating series of notes or "legends" interspersed among the geographical details. "Illinois Country" is shown between the Illinois and Wabash rivers. Among its other important details, Hutchins' map is one of the only printed maps of the period to show the proposed new colony of Vandalia (here "Indiana"), which was projected to occupy a large portion of the present state of West Virginia. This copy of the map is accompanied by Hutchins' text: A TOPOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION OF VIRGINIA, PENNSYLVANIA, MARYLAND, AND NORTH CAROLINA, COMPREHENDING THE RIVERS OHIO, KENHAWA, SIOTO, CHEROKEE, WABASH, ILLINOIS, MISSISSIPPI, &c.... London. 1778. [2],ii,67pp. plus two folding maps and folding table. Bound in half calf and marbled paper boards. Ex-lib. with perforated stamp on titlepage and a few other minor library marks. The text is here in the first edition, second state, with errors corrected on the titlepage and in the text, and no errata leaf. Of the text Streeter writes: "Hutchins' work is one of the most valuable sources on the West during the British period. It is of particular interest for the Illinois country. The appended journal by Captain Kennedy describes his voyage up the Illinois River to its headwaters during July and August of 1773." Hutchins was the most accomplished geographer in America at the time, and his exact description of the regions west of the Alleghenies was the best available at the time of the Revolution. "[B]y far the best map of the west printed to that time" - Streeter. "The best [colonial] map of the region south of the Great Lakes" - Cumming. A vital American map, and exceptionally rare. Map: STREETER SALE 1300. PHILLIPS MAPS, p.983. CUMMING, BRITISH MAPS OF COLONIAL AMERICA, p.36. BROWN, EARLY MAPS OF THE OHIO VALLEY, plate 51. SIEBERT SALE 289. Text: VAIL 655. FIELD 744. STREETER SALE 1299. SABIN 34054. HOWES H846, "d." GRAFF 2029. THOMSON 625. CLARK I:258.
(Item ID: WRCAM31569) $175,000.00