A New Map of North America Shewing its Principal Divisions, Chief Cities, Towns, Rivers, Mountains &c.

Attractive and scarce map fully hand coloured example of Edward Wells map of north America.

An elaborate title at top left contains a dedication to His Highness William the Duke of Gloucester, the Royal Crest and a scale of Miles. The scale bears the name, According to Vulgar Computation or According to Norwood’s Computation. Richard Norwood was a noted mathematician and surveyor of the seventeenth century. The Duke of Gloucester, son of Queen Anne, was attending Oxford where Wells was a teacher of mathematics and geography. Wells included this map in the second edition of his atlas, A New Sett of Maps of Antient and Present Geography and which is identified by the addition of the map number 39 below the title.

Wells has added or made changes to the regions of English and French control, such as; Magdalen R. which is shortened, leaving S. Fe on the banks of a river flowing south-west into the Gulf of California. An insular California is proudly claimed as NEW ALBION discovered by Sir Francis Drake Anno 1577. He identifies the region to the north as PARTS AS YET UNKNOWN. The Mississippi, valley is drawn from Hennepin and he credits the discoveries in the north to him. He adds new sources shown by the addition of the New French Settlement on the Gulf of Mexico which relates to d’Iberville’s newly founded colony at Biloxi settled earlier in 1699. Further westward a legend marks the presence of Francisco Coronado in 1540. The most notable alteration in the Mississippi valley region is the Ohio River, where the name Hotico R. is added and is curiously shown flowing through the Apalachin M. which stretchs from the east all the way to Mexico.

References; Burden 758, ill. pl. 757, p. 477, Moreland p.163

From Wells, A New Sett of Maps of Antient and Present Geography

Collections:
National Library Australia: Bib ID3547071