High resolution image in MrSID format from Library of Congress
BIBLIOGRAPHIC INFORMATION
Creator:
Jefferys, Thomas
Title:
A map of
the most inhabited part of New England, containing the provinces of
Massachusetts Bay and New Hampshire, with the colonies of Konekticut and
Rhode Island, divided into counties and townships: the whole composed from
actual surveys and its situation adjusted by astronomical observations
Publication Information:
London: Thos.
Jefferys, 1755
Contributors:
Mead,Braddock (alias John Green)
Douglass, William
Description:
Copperplate engraving, hand colored, 105 x 100 cm.
Subjects:
New England--Maps--Early works to
1800
New York--Maps--Early works to 1800
Notes:
1. Scale ca. 1:440,000.
2. Shows boundaries, town and cities, roads, trails,
forts, rivers and streams, waterfalls, portages, numerous place-names, landmarks, land
grants in New Hampshire and Maine.
3. Described in Sellers, Maps and Charts of North America,
no. 797.
4. Insets "Fort Frederik" (ca. 1:1,680) and "A
plan of Boston harbor from an accurate survey" (ca.1:150,000).
5. Image derived from a 4 x 5" transparency
scanned to a Kodak Pro Photo CD. Original map held by Library of Congress,
Geography and Map Division. For rights information, contact
Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division, Washington, D.C.
20540-4650 USA.
A Map of the
Most Inhabited Part of New England, 1755
Thomas Jefferys' map of
New England and New York was the most influential map of this area
published during the eighteenth century. Based on a variety of sources, it
provided the model for all the more accurate maps of New York prior Simeon
De Witt’s map of 1802. Although individual eighteenth-century British maps
improved
on Jefferys in a variety of ways, the overall framework of British mapping during this
period remained essentially the same as that seen here. This map is an excellent
source of eighteenth-century place names.
Although this map is usually attributed to Jefferys, it was actually drawn by his
assistant Braddock Mead (also known as John Green). The map contains a list of the sources
used in its compilation, which was unusual in the eighteenth century. In spite of this
list, it appears that the map was derived largely from other sources. The entire New
England portion of the map was almost certainly copied from a little-known map by William
Douglass. The part depicting New York was probably copied from a survey (probably
made by the British military), part of which can be found in the Public Record Office.
As Geographer to the King, Jefferys had access to manuscript surveys of the
American colonies, some of which have been lost.
REFERENCES:
David Yehling Allen, Long Island Maps and
Their Makers , 34-37
William P. Cumming, British Maps of Colonial
America
, 45-47
Alex Krieger and David Cobb, eds., Mapping Boston , 28
John R. Sellers and Patricia Molen Van Ee, Maps and Charts of North America , no. 797
Revised 12/26/01