LEWIS EVANS
HIS MAP OF THE MIDDLE BRITISH COLONIES IN AMERICA
A COMPARATIVE ACCOUNT OF TEN DIFFERENT EDITIONS PUBLISHED BETWEEN 1755 AND 1807,
BY HENRY N. STEVENS
(LONDON: HENRY STEVENS, SON, AND STILES, 39 GREAT RUSSELL STREET, OVER AGAINST THE SOUTH-WEST CORNER OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM, 1905)
PREFACE.
HAVING recently acquired a copy of the original Philadelphia edition of Lewis Evans' Map of the Middle British Colonies in America, published in 1755, together with his accompanying descriptive " Analysis" of the same, I was tempted to read the book and examine the map.
Recognizing some familiar features in the map, I compared it with the one in Pownall's Topographical Description of 1776, and was surprised to find that, although twenty-one years apart in date, both were printed from the very same copper-plate, although the latter contains some important additions and alterations.
The text of Evans' "Analysis" was also found to be largely quoted as such by Pownall in his Topographical Description. But on reading Pownall's Preface I was greatly struck with the forcible protests he makes concerning a certain piratical issue of Evans' map, said to have been made by Jefferys in London soon after the original came over from Philadelphia in 1755, and which piracy was then still current.
I was sufficiently interested to hunt up this piratical
vi Preface.
issue in the Map Room of the British Museum and compare it with the original. In my search for this particular piracy, several other states and editions were discovered, and between the British Museum collection and my own I was fortunately able to identify no less than ten different issues, but it is by no means certain that others may not yet come to light.
As these ten editions are found scattered in various books and atlases or as separate maps, it occurred to me that it would be both interesting and instructive to bring them all together into one Collection and bind them in a morocco case together with Evans' "Analysis" and Pownall's Topographical Description. After considerable search I succeeded in gathering together eight out of the ten issues I had identified, and hope in time to secure the other two.
The following Essay comprises the information acquired during the search, and my original intention was to print off merely one copy to accompany the Collection as a sort of descriptive handbook. As, however, I am informed that the subject has some general as well as bibliographical interest, as showing the tricks of trade and modes of procedure of map makers in the eighteenth century, a few copies have been printed off for presentation and sale.
HENRY N. STEVENS.
January, 1905.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
I. 1755. THE ORIGINAL ISSUE 1
II. 1756. THE KITCHIN PIRACY 11
III. 1758. THE JEFFERYS PIRACY 14
IV. 1771. THE CARINGTON BOWLES PIRACY. . 15
V. 1775. THE SAYER & JEFFERYS PIRACY . . 17
VI. 1776. POWNALL'S RE-ISSUE OF THE ORIGINAL PLATE IMPROVED 19
VII. 1776. SAYER & BENNETT'S RE-ISSUE OF THE PLATE OF 1775 CORRECTED AND IMPROVED AFTER POWNALL AND OTHERS 29
VIII. [1792-93(?)] CARINGTON BOWLES' RE-ISSUE OF THE PLATE OF 1771 . . . . 33
IX. 1794-1807. LAURIE & WHITTLE'S RE-ISSUE OF SAYER & BENNET'S PLATE OF 1776 35
X. [1797-1800?] BOWLES & CARVER'S RE-ISSUE OF C. BOWLES' PLATE OF 1792-93(?) 37
CONCLUSION 40
A COMPARATIVE ACCOUNT OF TEN DIFFERENT EDITIONS OF LEWIS EVANS' MAP OF THE MIDDLE BRITISH COLONIES IN AMERICA. 1755-1807.
I.
1755. THE ORIGINAL ISSUE.
IN 1755 there was printed and published by B. Franklin and D. Hall, in Philadelphia, a quarto pamphlet 1 entitled,
Geographical, Historical, / Political, Philosophical and Mechanical / Essays. / The First, Containing / an /Analysis / Of a General Map of the / Middle British Colonies /in/ America; / And of the Country of the Confederate Indians : / A Description of the Face of the Country; / The Boundaries of the Confederates; /and the /Maritime and Inland Naviga-
1 iv. + 32 pp. and Map.
2 Evans Map of the
tions of the several Rivers / and Lakes contained therein. / By Lewis Evans./It is not the purpose of these notes to give a sketch of the life of Evans, but rather to trace the curious bibliographical ramifications of his map for more than half a century.
Three variations of the title-page of the " Analysis " (as his first essay is usually cited) are known. The first bears imprint " Philadelphia : / Printed by B. Franklin, and D. Hall. MDCCLV." The second is designated "The Second Edition" but bears the same imprint. The third has an additional line to the imprint, "and sold by J. & R. Dodsley, in Pall Mall, London."
Every copy of the "Analysis" should contain the original edition of the map "Engraved by Jas Turner in Philadelphia," but the map is generally either wanting altogether, or supplied (in substitution of the original) by one or other of the London reprints herein-after mentioned.
The original map has the following title in an ornamental cartouche placed at the top in the centre, just below the border lines:
A general Map of the /Middle British Colonies, in America; / Viz Virginia, Mariland, Delaware, Pensilvania, / New- Jersey, New- York, Connecticut, and Rhode Island: / Of Aquanishuonigy, the Country of the Confederate Indians;/ Comprehending Aquanishuonigy proper, their Place of Residence, / Ohio and Tiiuχsoχruntie their Deer-Hunting Countries,/Middle British Colonies. 3
Couχsaχrage and Skaniadarade, their Beaver-Hunting Countries; / Of the Lakes Erie, Ontario and Champlain, / And of Part of New-France : / Wherein is also shewn the antient and present Seats of the Indian Nations. / By Lewis Evans. 1755. /Below the cartouche is a scale of 150 English miles. Immediately to the left of the bottom of the cartouche is the engraver's imprint, " Engraved by Jas Turner in Philadelphia." In the right-hand bottom corner, just inside the border line, is the publisher's imprint in two lines. " Published according to Act of Parliament, by Lewis Evans. June 23. 1755. and ' / sold by R. Dodsley, in Pall Mall, LONDON, & by the Author in PHILADELPHIA. /
In the upper left-hand corner is the Dedication, so engraved as to appear to be on a separate piece of paper (7⅝ inches long by 2½ high), pasted on the map.
To the Honourable Thomas Pownall Esqr. / Permit me, Sir, to pay You this Tribute of Gratitude, / for the great Assistance You have given me in this Map; and to I assure the Public, that it has past the Examination of a Gentleman, / whom I esteem the best Judge of it in America: / Your most obedient, / and most humble Servant, / L Evans. /Below the Dedication is " A Sketch of the remaining Part of Ohio R. &c " also engraved in such a manner as to appear to be a separate piece of paper pasted on the main map, and occupying a space of 6½ inches high by 5¼ wide. About an inch inside the bottom
4 Evans Map of the
border of the main map just to the right of the centre is an inscription engraved so as to represent a label three inches long by half an inch high. " For a particular Map of VIRGINIA the Reader is referred to that by Fry and Jefferson, published by Mr Jefferys near Charing Cross, LONDON, in 1751."
The map itself is covered with engraved descriptive and explanatory notes, too numerous to mention in detail, but the special features referred to above will be sufficient for identification and comparison. The whole map measures within the outside border lines 26⅛ inches long by 19⅜ high. The plate mark is about ¼ inch beyond the border lines and the uncut sheet of paper measures about 29¾ x 21½. The top border shows the Longitudes East and West from Philadelphia, while the bottom border shows the Longitudes from London. For the purposes of easy reference from the accompanying " Analysis" the top border has each degree space marked with a small letter, a to s, commencing on the right. The right-hand border has each degree space similarly marked with capital letters, A to K, commencing at the top.
Turning now to the " Analysis " Evans tells us in his Preface that
" The Map, that these Sheets accompany, and that
" they are intended to explain and supply, is pre-
" sented to the Public, when a longer Time was indeed
" necessary to have given it the Degree of Correctness
" that was intended it. But the present Conjuncture of
Middle British Colonies. 5
" Affairs in America, and the generous Assistance of the
"Assembly of Pensilvania, have brought it to Light,
"when the Public will, it is hoped, receive Advantage
"from it, that will render an Apology for its premature
"Publication needless ; and think it worthy the En-
"couragement of a Body who devote the Public Money
"to the Public Service."
The " present conjuncture of affairs" no doubt refers to the rapidly increasing encroachments of France on the back settlements, to which Evans draws particular attention in his " Analysis." He especially points out the great advantages to the English Colonies of the Country on the Ohio and the Lakes, and urges the necessity for more general knowledge of the nature and position of those remote parts and of the various ways by which they may be reached, in order that the French may more easily be dispossessed. He then proceeds to explain the scope and details of his map and particularly he points out the nature and sources of his information, and quotes his authorities for each part of the country when describing it. One has only to read Evans' " Analysis" to readily realize the extreme difficulty of making a map of this vast country on a small scale of about thirty six miles to the inch on anything like correct lines. It is evident that he drew the map with the most conscientious desire for accuracy, and the " Analysis" reveals the extraordinary amount of information he had collected for the purpose. In his concluding remarks Evans makes some curious and slighting allusions to
6 Evans Map of the
the ambitions of Massachusetts towards Independency, most interesting and prophetic in the light of subsequent events. But the main object of his book seems to have been to direct particular attention to the advantages of a colony on the Ohio and the retrieving of the country encroached on by the French. Some copies of the map were probably issued in advance of the publication of the " Analysis" for the map is stated, in the imprint, to have been published on June 23, 1755, whereas the Preface to the " Analysis" is dated August 9. In Evans' Essay No. II,1 published in 1756, he says on p. 24,
" My map was begun engraving in November 1754
"and finished towards the end of June 1755, the
"pamphlet published August Qth next following."
The map evidently excited considerable attention in the Colonies, and, according to what Governor Pownall says in 1776,2 it was for a long time generally accepted as the standard authority for settling boundaries, purchases, etc., on account of the extreme care and accuracy with which it had been prepared. (Vide No. VI, pp. 21 and 22.) As a further testimony to the accuracy of Evans' work may be quoted Captain Thomas Hutchins, who, in the Preface to his Topographical Description of Virginia, published in 1778, says,
" It is fit also, that I should take notice, that in the
"account which I have given of several of the branches
"of the Ohio, and Alleghany rivers, I have adopted the
1 Vide full title pp. 7 and 8.
2 Topographical Description, p. iv. Vide p. 19, etc., supra.
Middle British Colonies. 7
" words of the late ingenious Mr. Lewis Evans, as I
"found he had properly described them in the Analysis
"to his Map of the Middle Colonies."
Nevertheless, it is clear that the map and "Analysis" did not satisfy all parties, especially the Shirley faction, for in the New York Mercury for January 5th, 1756, appeared a letter with the following heading:
" Mr. Gaine. The following Letter from a Gentleman
"in New York to his Friend at Philadelphia is upon a
"subject of so much importance that I beg you'll give
"it a Place in your Paper."
The letter is dated ist December, 1755, and in it the writer accuses Evans of wrongfully stating in his " Analysis" the right of the French to the country on the North-West of the St. Lawrence River from Fort Frontenac to Montreal. He further characterizes him as diverting himself by setting false bounds to Provinces and Empires on his map, and he falls foul of Evans' conclusions generally.
Although this letter was only published in the New York Mercury of January 5th, Evans immediately replied to it at some length; answering and refuting his antagonist on all points in a pamphlet issued in similar style to the " Analysis" under the following title:
Geographical, Historical, / Political, Philosophical and Mechanical / Essays. / Number II. Containing, / A / Letter / Representing, / the Impropriety of sending Forces to Virginia: / The Importance of taking Frontenac; / And that the Preservation of Oswego8 Evans Map of the
was owing to General Shirley's / Proceeding thither. / And containing Objections to those Parts of Evans's General Map and / Analysis, which relate to the French Title to Country, on the / North-West Side of the St. Laurence River, between Fort Frontenac / and Montreal, &c. / Published in the New- York Mercury, No. 178, Jan. 5, 1756. / With an / Answer, / To so much thereof as concerns the Public; / And the several Articles set in a just Light. / By Lewis Evans. / Philadelphia:/ Printed for the Author; and Sold by him in Arch-Street:/ And at New- York by G. Noel, Bookseller near Counts's Market. / MDCCLVI. /lIn this pamphlet Evans reprints in full the letter from the New York Mercury. It will be observed that on the title he divides the writer's views into various sections. These he answers in separate chapters, and certainly appears to have the best of the argument. He spiritedly holds to the views given in his " Analysis," and while asserting his entire loyalty to the Colonies and his desire to see the French dispossessed, he reasserts that his object was to set down on his map such boundaries as his information and surveys led him to believe were correct, thus acting fairly and impartially to both sides. Although this pamphlet fills 42 quarto pages, the preface is dated Jan. 10, 1756, only five days after the publication of the letter in the New York Mercury.
Considerable anxiety was all this time being caused
Middle British Colonies. 9
to the home government by the persistent encroachments of the French on the back settlements. It is not surprising, therefore, to find that the matter aroused extensive public interest in England. The desire for information doubtless caused considerable demand for those copies of Evans' Map and " Analysis," which had been sent over from Philadelphia for sale by R. and J. Dodsley. The subject was evidently attracting such great public notice, that instead of copies of Evans' second Essay being sent over from America for sale in London, that pamphlet was immediately reprinted there by R. and J. Dodsley1 probably at the instigation of Governor Pownall, who happened to be in England during the first half of the year 1756.
The work is briefly noticed in the Monthly Review for September, 1756. The Reviewer holds that Evans has replied to the Letter in the New York Mercury of Jan. 5, 1756 " with the appearance of much solidity of
"argument, as well as honesty of intention. He was
"certainly a sensible man, a good geographer, (so far
"at least as concerns that part of the world he treats of)
"and a true friend to his country; so that his death may
"justly be deemed a public loss."
From the extensive titles of the two Essays which Evans published in 1755 and 1756, it is evident that he contemplated continuing the series, but unfortunately he died in June, 1756. From the Preface to his " Analysis" it would seem that he contemplated issuing maps of the
10 Evans' Map.
separate Colonies on a larger scale, in which he would be able to include certain sectional and physical features which he was compelled to omit from his Map of the Middle British Colonies for want of space.
II.
1756. THE KITCHIN PIRACY.
EVANS' Map, as published in London by R. and J. Dodsley, had in the meantime attracted the attention of a rival map publisher, T. Kitchin, who piratically copied, re-engraved, and published it in 1756, professedly with improvements. Pownall writing in 1776, about the 1758 issue of this piracy, says, " this Plagiarism was falsely
"sold as Evans's map improved ; by which that very
"laborious and ingenious but poor man was deprived of
"the Benefit of his Work." (Vide No. VI, p. 24.)
The following is the title of Kitchin's reprint :
A general Map of the / Middle British Colonies in America : / viz. Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pensilvania, / New- Jersey, New York, Connecticut and Rhode-Island : / Of Aquanishuonigy the Country of the Confederate Indians/ Comprehending Aquanishuonigy proper, their Places of Residence, / Ohio and Thuchsochruntie their Deer Hunting Countries, / Couchsachrage and Skaniadarade their Beaver12 Evans Map of the
Hunting Countries, / Of the Lakes Erie, Ontario and Champlain, / And of Part of New France : / Wherein is also shewn the antient and present Seats of the / Indian Nations ; carefully copied from the Original Publish'd at / Philadelphia, By Mr Lewis Evans 1755, with /some Improvements by I. Gibson./To say that this Map is carefully copied from the Original is a libel on Evans, as will be seen in our description of No. VI. The Dedication to Pownall is omitted, and the resulting space is filled by the scale of 200 miles and by two descriptive paragraphs of text, the third and eighth from the Preface to the " Analysis." Several of the Notes in the original map, relating personally to Evans, are entirely omitted, and their places filled with other notes taken wholly, or adapted from the " Analysis." The ornamental cartouche is of different design from the original. In the right-hand lower corner is the imprint, "Sold by T. Kitchin Engraver & Printseller at the Star opposite Ely Gate Holborn. 1756. Price 2s" The Index letters in the margins are omitted. The size is slightly different from the original, being 26¼ x 19 within the outer border lines. Numerous differences (mostly erroneous) in the interior details of the country are manifest, to which reference will be found in Pownall's description of Jefferys' reissue of this same plate. (Vide No. VI, p. 24.)
The I. Gibson mentioned on the title of this issue seems to have been a map draughtsman and engraver of some repute, for his name is to be found attached to
Middle British Colonies. 13
many maps, mostly undated, but presumably between 1750 and 1780. At the end of the Atlas Minimus, published by J. Newbery in 1758, is an advertisement in which he gives his name and address as "J,1 Gibson, Engraver No. 18 George's Court, Clerkenwell." His name appears frequently as engraver in conjunction with Eman Bowen, Geographer to his Majesty.
III.
1758. THE JEFFERYS PIRACY.
BY 1758 Kitchin's plate seems to have passed into the possession of Thomas Jefferys, the famous map publisher of Charing Cross, for in that year we find the map re-issued with exactly the same title as Kitchin's, but with an alteration in the imprint, which now reads, "Sold by T. Jefferys, Charing Cross 1758. Price 2s 6d" The inherent defects common to both the Kitchin and Jefferys issues are fully described by Governor Pownall in 1776. (Vide No. VI, p. 24.)
Very little difference is to be observed between the issues of 1756 and 1758, but a number of new Forts on the back settlements are added in the latter, e.g. Forts Littleton, Shirley, Granville, Shipeconk, Nominack, William Henry, Edward, Ticonderoga, etc., etc. Fort du Quesne, which was marked simply " Ft du Quesne" in the 1756 plate, is now lettered " Ft du Quesne Destroy'd 1758 now called Pittsburg."
IV.
1771. THE CARINGTON BOWLES PIRACY.
IN 1771 Evans' map was again piratically copied, entirely re-engraved on a new plate, and published by Carington Bowles under the following title :
A General Map of the / Middle British Colonies in America / Viz. Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pensilvania, New- Jersey, New York, / Connecticut & Rhode-Island: of Aquanishuonigy the Country of the / Confederate Indians Comprehending Aquanishuonigy proper, their Places of Resi-/ dence, Ohio & Thuchsochruntie their Deer Hunting Countries, Couchsachrage / & Skaniadarade their Beaver Hunting Countries, of the Lakes Erie, / Ontario and Champlain. Wherein is also shewn the antient / & present Seats of the Indian Nations, carefully copied from the / Original Publish'd at Philadelphia, by Mr. Lewis Evans./The above title is in an ornamental cartouche at the top, in the centre below the border lines, but the
16 Evans Map.
design is not a copy of that on either the Original Evans Map or the Kitchin-Jefferys reprint. Immediately below the cartouche is the imprint in two lines :
Printed for Carington Bowles, at N° 69 in St Pauls Church Yard, London. / Published Jany: 1. 1771.The map itself is not " carefully copied from the Original Published at Philadelphia by Mr Lewis Evans," as stated in the title, because it exhibits all the alterations and omissions described in the Kitchin-Jefferys editions, which alterations were probably the so-called improvements by I. Gibson, whose name, however, is totally ignored in this Bowles reprint (vide No. II). This Bowles edition is accordingly but a slavish copy of the Kitchin-Jefferys issues, but exhibits one or two new features. For instance, the lettering in the Kitchin- Jefferys plate, " Part of New France," is omitted, and a much larger tract of country to the North and West of Lakes Ontario and Erie is now lettered " Canada." The new boundary is shown by a dotted line extending across Lake Ontario from Frontenac to Niagara. The dimensions of the Bowles map are also quite different from those of the Kitchin-Jefferys plate, being 25⅜ inches wide by 19⅜ inches high, and the engraving of the map is not carried out into the double border lines at the top and bottom, as in the previous editions, both original and reprint. The Connecticut River, which in previous editions ended at Great Falls, just above 43°, is now carried up to 45°.
V.
1775. THE SAYER & JEFFERYS PIRACY.
THE Kitchin-Jefferys plate, which had apparently been slumbering peacefully since 1758 (unless used in the meantime without alteration of date, or in an issue which has not as yet come under the notice of the writer), came again into use in 1775 with an altered title. The first nine lines are exactly the same, after which there are seven new lines in place of the former last five. The altered title now reads as follows:
A General Map . . . Champlain (as in Nos. II and III) Exhibiting / the Antient and Present Seats of the Indian Nations / Published by Lewis Evans at Philadelphia / Corrected and Improved with the addition of the Line of Forts on the / Back Settlements. / By Thos Jefferys Geographer to the / King. /The imprint is in the same place as in Nos. II and III, in the bottom right-hand corner, but is now in two lines:
Sold by R. Sayer in Fleet street & T. Jefferys,18 Evans Map.
Charing Cross. Price 2s 6d / Publish'd as the Act directs. 15 June 1775.One would suppose from the addition to the title that this map was really corrected and brought up to date, but as far as can be seen the alterations in the plate since the Jefferys issue of 1758 are infinitesimal. Even the Forts stated to be added by Jefferys are all to be found in the 1758 issue, when the improvements were claimed on the title as the work of I. Gibson, whose name is now omitted altogether. The only alteration in the body of the map readily to be noticed, is that the lettering " Part of New Hampshire," is now in two lines, while in the 1758 issue it was in one line. This issue of the map is found in the American Atlas published by Sayer and Bennett1 in 1775, where it forms Map No. 18 in the Table of Contents. It will be observed that while the imprint on the map is Sayer and Jefferys, it is Sayer and Bennett on the title of the Atlas. According to Pownall2 the Jefferys plate came into the hands of Sayer in the course of trade by purchase.3 Pownall 2 vehemently protests against the further use of this plate, and Sayer withdrew it from the next edition of the American Atlas published in 1776, and substituted for it in the Table of Contents No. 18 a map of Lake Champlain, including Lake George. But the old plate was by no means dead yet, in fact it survived and did duty for another thirty years or so, as will be seen later on.
2 Topographical Description, p. vi. 3 Jefferys died 20 Nov., 1771,
VI.
1776. POWNALL'S RE-ISSUE OF EVANS' ORIGINAL PLATE IMPROVED.
A GREAT change came over the fortunes of Evans' map in 1776. In that year Thomas Pownall, who had spent much time in America as Governor of Massachusetts Bay and South Carolina, and Lieut.-Governor of New Jersey, published a folio volume entitled,
A Topographical Description of such parts of North America as are contained in the (annexed) Map of the Middle British Colonies, &c., in North America.1Pownall, after his return from America continued to take the greatest interest in the welfare of the Colonies, as witness his famous work The Administration of the Colonies, which ran through several editions. The
20 Evans Map of the
increasing public interest taken in the affairs of the Colonies at the outbreak of the Revolution, doubtless prompted the publication of the Topographical Description.
That work may be described as a new and much enlarged edition of both Evans' Map and his " Analysis" of 1755.
As to the map, Pownall appears to have been in possession of the original Evans plate engraved by Jas. Turner in Philadelphia, and he uses it as the basis of his improved map. The title is now altered to read :
A Map of the / Middle British Colonies in North America. / First Published by Mr. Lewis Evans, of Philadelphia, in 1755; / and since corrected and improved, as also extended, /with the Addition of New England, and bordering Parts of Canada; / from Actual Surveys now lying at the Board of Trade. / By T. Pownall, M.P. / with a Topographical Description of such parts of North America / as are contained in this Map. / Printed & Published according to Act of Parliament for J Almon in Piccadilly, London / March 25th 1776. /
The old engraver's imprint, " Engraved by Ja s Turner in Philadelphia", still remains to the left of the cartouche. Not much alteration is to be observed in the Western parts, save that an alternative course of the River Ohio, according to Gist and Gordon, is laid down in dotted lines. But the whole of the map east of the longitude of Philadelphia is greatly changed, and
Middle British Colonies. 21
is filled in with new details. The old right-hand border, which in the original Evans plate was placed at about 4 degrees east of Philadelphia, is cut off, and the map is now extended eastward to about 9 degrees. The new portion of 5 degrees appears to be engraved on a separate plate, and, after separate printing, the impressions from each plate are neatly pasted together to form one map. In the ocean and in various other blank spaces are Lists of the Counties and Townships of the various Colonies, numbered to correspond with numbered references in the body of the map.
In the Preface to the Topographical Description, Pownall first reprints Evans' Preface to the " Analysis" of 1755, and then goes on to describe the additions and corrections he has made to the map, and the sources from whence he derived his information. Speaking of Evans' original map he says :
" The Western Division of this present map was
"composed and published at the Commencement of
"the late War in America. It was found by the Officers
"and Servants of the Crown to have that Degree of
"Precision, that it was used by them both in England
"and in America, and served every practical Purpose
"during the War. Those who have served and tra-
"veiled in America, have had few Occasions of correct-
"ing it; on the contrary, its Exactness as far as a
"general Map means to go, as far as a Map on this
"small Scale could go, has generally been confirmed by
"Experience on the Spot. In any Transactions since
22 Evans Map of the
" the War, where local Precision has been necessary,
"this Map has been referred to, not simply in private
"but public Transactions, such as the great Indian
"Purchase and Cession. The Boundaries by which the
"Propositions for the Purchase of Lands on the Ohio
"were made to the Boards of Trade and Treasury, were
"marked and settled on this Map. When the Servants
"of the Crown proposed in the House of Commons the
"Clause for the Limits of the Government of Quebec;
"and when the Line of those Limits was there opposed,
"both Sides, with this Map in their Hands, argued
"from it."
After describing the alterations and corrections he has made to Evans' original map, Pownall goes on to mention the additions he has made in the New England portion :
" What there was wanting to a compleat Map of New
"England, is now added from later Information, and
"from later Draughts and Surveys deposited at the
"Board of Trade, which the Earl of Dartmouth per-
"mitted me to have copied for the Benefit of the Public.
"These new Parts which I have added are plotted
"down in the Form in which I think every Map which
"can offer to give the Face of the Country should be
"drawn, tracing the Features of it, and not in Default
"of that, filling up the Map with Writing. Instead of
"Writing I have put Figures of Reference, and the
"Writing is put in the Margin and in other blank
"Places."
Middle British Colonies. 23
Pownall then proceeds to make some curious comparisons, retrospective and prospective, which appear to be of sufficient interest to repeat. He says :
" Many Tracts which the Geographer will see marked
"on Evans's Map, in the western Parts, and which were,
"when it was first published, mere Indian or Traders
"Paths through the Wilderness, are now in Course of
"a very few years become great Waggon Roads. Many
"Indian Settlements being merely a Collection of Wig-
"warns or Cabins, must now be marked as County
"Towns. Many other Particulars marked in the Map,
"and noticed in the original Analysis, which were, 20
"Years ago, Matter of practical Information, and useful
"to the Service, ceasing, perhaps, now to have that Use,
"may yet be amusing as Matters of curious Antiquity,
"become so at this early Period. It will be curious in
"a few Years, as the Face of the Country changes and
"is totally altered, to view in this Map, and to read in
"this Description, what it was in its natural State, and
"how the Settlements began to expand, and had ex-
"tended themselves in 20 Years."
Pownall concludes his long and interesting Preface with some very caustic remarks on the pirated copy of Evans' map published by the late Thomas Jefferys in 1758 (vide No. Ill), but it is curious to note that he makes no mention of the original pirated issue by Kitchin in 1756 (vide No. II), nor of the later one by Carington Bowles in 1771 (vide No. IV). As these remarks of Pownall were the direct incentive to the
24 Evans Map of the
present bibliographical investigation, it may be as well to repeat them in full.
" A pirated Copy of this Map, soon after it came to
"England, was in a most audacious Manner published
"by the late Thomas Jefferys, under a false Pretence
"of Improvements, Lewis Evans's Name was put to
"it; and this Plagiarism was falsely sold as Evans's
"Map improved ; by which that very laborious and in-
genious, but poor Man, was deprived of the Benefit
"of his Work. The Engraver was so totally ignorant
"of the Principles on which the Original was formed,
"that although he traced the Lines of the Rivers and
"Roads in the usual Way, yet it can scarce be called
"a Copy. The Mountains in America, which give the
"real Features to the Face of it, run in Ridges of a
"specific Direction, do in Places here and there run up
"into Peaks; do in others end abruptly in Knobs and
"Bluff-points; do interlock and have Gaps; all which
"Particulars were in the Original with a scrupulous At-
"tendon plotted and set down; as also the Parts where
"these Ridges spread into hilly Land. The Officer or
"the Geographer will look in vain for this Precision in
"the pirated Copy. The blundering Copyist thought,
"that the filling the Places where he happened to meet
"with the Word Mountains, with the Engraver's com-
"mon Marks scratched in at random, was doing the
"Business, by which he has put Mountains where they
"are not; and has converted great Swamps into Moun-
"tains; and in other Parts has totally omitted the
Middle British Colonies. 25
" Marks of high Ground, because he did not under-
"stand those Marks which were used to express such
"high Ground, without presuming to give the Range
"and Form, where that was not yet known. So far as
"respects the Face of the Country, this Thing of
"Jefferys might as well be a Map of the Face of the
"Moon. Further, in the Original there was observed
"a scrupulous Caution not to deceive; the Parts which
"were drawn from Report and Computation, and col-
"lected from Journals, are in the Original engraved in
"a slighter Manner, and very differently from those
"Parts which are laid down from actual Surveys ;
"neither the Eye, the Ideas, nor the Spirit of the
"Copyist went to the Marking this; and all Parts
"stand equal in authority in his false1 Copy.
" The Plate of this blundering Copy has, in the
"Course of Trade, by Purchase, fallen into the Hands
"of Mr. Sayer of Fleet-street, a Man of Reputation in
"a very extensive Line of Business. He very honour-
"ably told me, that if the Plate stood as a single Article
"in his Shop, he would destroy it directly; but that it
"made Part of an Atlas already published by him;2 and
"was also part of another very soon to be published by
"him, which cost many thousand Pounds; and that he
"did not know how to take it out of these Collections.
"I can only say, it will disgrace any Collection in which
"it stands, and that I am sorry it is to disgrace any
2 American Atlas , 1775, No. 18.
26 Evans Map of the
" coming from a Shop in which there are so many
"valuable Maps and Charts. Neither this improved
"Map nor the following Sheets are published with any
"View of Profit to the Editor; if any should accrue
"it will be given to M r Evans's Daughter or her
"Children."
Pownall's accusation of piracy against Jefferys, and his protest against the continued use of the plate by Sayer were not confined to the preface of the Topographical Description. In the British Museum (11900, c. 5) there is fortunately preserved a copy of the original prospectus issued by J. Almon, announcing that,
" speedily will be published A map of the Middle
"British Colonies in North America. First published
"by Mr. Lewis Evans, of Philadelphia, in 1755; and
"since corrected and improved, as also extended, with
"the Addition of New England, &c., and bordering
"Parts of Canada; from actual Surveys now lying at
"the Board of Trade. By T. Pownall, M.P., Late
"Governor, &c., &c. With a Topographical Descrip-
"tion of such Parts of North America as are contained
"in the Map."
The above heading is followed by Extract from the Preface. The part relating to Jefferys is slightly different in the wording to what actually afterwards appeared in the published work, but is, if anything, more forcible. For instance, the first sentence reads,
" This map, soon after it came to England, was, in a
"most audacious manner, pirated by the late Thomas
Middle British Colonies. 27
" Jefferys, under a false pretence of improvements."
The part relating to Sayer is identical in both prospectus and book.
These forcible remarks, so widely published, evidently had some effect on Mr. Sayer, for in the 1776 edition of the American Atlas the offending plate (which had appeared in the 1775 edition of that work, vide No. V) was withdrawn, and a map of Lake Champlain substituted for it in the Table of Contents.
According to the Dictionary of National Biography, xlvi, 267, Pownall " in 1785, had prepared a second "edition (i.e. of the Topographical Description) with
"very many additions, which was probably identical
"with the copy sold at New York about 1856 (Drake,
"History of Boston, 1857, p. 6551). He meditated
"publishing a French translation for the benefit of the
"daughter of Evans (Franklin, Works, x. 198-201)."
Neither the second edition in English nor the French translation appear ever to have been published, but it is quite clear Pownall had them both in contemplation, for in a letter he wrote from Lausanne, 3rd July, 1785, to his friend Franklin at Passy, just before the latter's return to America, he says : " I received at Marseilles your letter by Mr Part-
"ridge, respecting the nature of the account made out
"by the editor and bookseller of my map and descrip-
1 Drake says, "A copy of it [i.e. Topographical Description and Map], with MS. additions by Gov. Pownall himself, was recently imported by Mr. Welford, of New York, and sold at auction. Its present fortunate possessor is unknown to me."
28 Evans Map.
" tion of the States of America. I had already done in
"the matter every thing in my power when I was on
"the spot, and pressed the point stronger than I should
"have done, had it been for my account; but, when I
"considered it, as what I really wished, the doing an
"act of charity to the daughter of an ingenious and
"ill-treated man, I exerted more pains about it than
"is my ordinary custom. I wished to make my in-
"tended charity as efficient and productive as possible.
"If I were on the spot I could not do more. I have
"prepared a second edition, with very many additions.
"If you will recommend to me any person who will
"translate it into French, I will publish this edition
"in France and give the whole profits to Evans's
"daughter."1
Evans' daughter seems to have been a favourite with both Franklin and Pownall. In fact Franklin's wife was her godmother, as appears from a letter written by Franklin to his wife, dated London 22 July, I774:2
" I enclose a letter I have just received from your
"goddaughter, Mrs Barry. I wrote to you before, that
"she had married the captain of a ship in the Levant
"trade. She is now again at Tunis, where you will see
"she has lately lain in of her third child. Her father,
"you know, was a geographer, and his daughter has
"some connexion, I think, with the whole globe; being
"born herself in America, and having her first child in
"Asia, her second in Europe, and now her third in
"Africa."
1 Sparks' Franklin, x, 198. 2 Ibid, viii, 125.
VII.
1776. SAYER AND BENNET'S RE-ISSUE OF THE PLATE OF 1775 CORRECTED AND IMPROVED AFTER POWNALL AND OTHERS.
BUT the old Kitchin-Jefferys-Sayer plate, although withdrawn in disgrace from the American Atlas of 1776 after Pownall's protest, was by no means yet done with ; in fact it had more than thirty years yet to live. On the 15th of October in the same year it re-appeared in a new guise, yet so strangely altered as to be almost unrecognizable, but it is our old friend all the same. It now takes its place as Map No. 4 in The American Military Pocket Atlas, published by R. Sayer and J. Bennet in 1776. The title of the Atlas bears no date, but the Dedication to Governor Pownall is dated 1776. In this Dedication the Editors say :
" SIR,
" As we undertook this Work for the use of the
" Military Gentlemen at your recommendation, we can-
30 Evans Map of the
"not but hope that the avowed patronage of a person
"so well informed in Geography, and having such a
"particular knowledge of the country of North America,
"may recommend it to the public ; we therefore pre-
"sumed to dedicate it to You. To You we owe our just
"acknowledgements for having enabled us to rectify
"former mistakes, to offer details hitherto unknown,
"and to collect a very great variety of interesting
"objects, within a moderate compass. Notwithstanding
"our utmost assiduity and attention to compleat your
"idea ; we have still reason to wish this work could have
"been rendered more worthy of your patronage and
"acceptance, and that it might shew in a manner ade-
"quate to our wishes, the respect and gratitude with
"which we have the honour to be,
"Sir, Your most humble and devoted Servants, "THE EDITORS.
"Fleet Street, 1776."
In the Advertisement which follows the Dedication, the Editors, speaking of the Map of the Middle Colonies, say that it has " been collated with and corrected by Governor Pownall's late Map." From the Dedication it is quite clear that Pownall authorized and approved the reissue of the Evans Map in this corrected form, but one is at a loss to surmise why he allowed Evans' name to be altogether omitted from it after all he had written in his Topographical Description only a few months before about the previous injustice to Evans.
Middle British Colonies. 31
In this re-issue of the map in its altered form, nine and a half inches of the outside top border line are cut away, and in the resulting space is a new headline title, " The Seat of War in the Middle British Colonies, containing Virginia, Maryland, The Delaware Counties, &ca."
The ornamental cartouche is entirely re-engraved in a different design, and the main title is also entirely re-engraved, and the wording of it altered as follows :
A General Map of the/ Middle British Colonies,/ in America. / containing Virginia, Maryland, The Delaware Counties, / Pennsylvania and New Jersey. / With the addition of New York, and of the Greatest Part of New England, / as also of the Bordering Parts of the Province of Quebec, / improved from several Surveys made after the late War, / and Corrected/from Governor Pownall's Late Map 1776. /The imprint is in one line in very small letters in the lower right-hand corner. " London Printed for R. Sayer & J. Bennett, Map, Chart & Printsellers, No. 53 Fleet Street as the Act directs, 15th Octr 1776." Beneath the imprint is the scale of 130 miles, removed from the top left-hand corner.
Although Evans' name is now omitted from the title the main delineations of the country in the central part of the map conform to Evans' original. In fact that part of the old Kitchin-Jefferys-Sayer plate has now been specially corrected to conform to Evans' original in those particulars to which Pownall so strongly takes
32 Evans Map.
exception when protesting against the Jefferys piracy in his Topographical Description already quoted.1 The spurious mountains are eliminated and the swamps reinstated. But in the Northern and Western regions the map is hardly recognizable. All the legends relating to the Indians, engraved on various parts of the map in all the previous editions, are now omitted, as are also the several Tables of Distances, formerly placed in the blanks in the Atlantic Ocean. The course of the Ohio River is greatly altered West of 8° from Philadelphia. The shapes of Lakes Erie and Ontario are considerably changed, and the country to the north of them is filled in and lettered. Lake Huron begins to take definite shape. The little inset map, " A sketch of the remaining Part of Ohio R., &c," which had appeared in all previous editions is now much enlarged, and is carried right up to the top border in place of the Dedication in the original, or in place of the scale and two paragraphs of text in the reprints. It is now entitled, " A Sketch of the Upper Parts of Canada," and includes the whole of Lake Superior and some country to the north of it.
As the American Military Pocket Atlas is not dated on the title, it is reasonable to suppose that this state of our map remained current till the close of the war.
1 Vide p. 24 ante.
VIII.
[1792-1793?] CARINGTON BOWLES' RE-ISSUE OF THE PLATE OF 1771.
OUR old acquaintance, No. IV of 1771, now comes to life again in fresh garb : Carington Bowies' piracy of the Kitchin-Jefferys piracy rejuvenated and rehabilitated. The ornamental cartouche and title of 1771 are removed, and the general appearance of the old plate so considerably altered that it was actually issued as
Bowles's / New Pocket Map / of the following / Independent States of / North America, viz. / Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pensylvania, / New Jersey, New York, Connecticut & Rhode Island. / Comprehending also the / habitations and hunting countries of the / Confederate Indians; / by Lewis Evans. / Printed for the Proprietor Carington Bowles, / N° 69 in St Pauls Church Yard, / London. / [No date.]
The date of this issue is very uncertain, but probably the title New Pocket Map justifies the assumption that it was issued in separate form, although it also appears with the same title as a sheet map No. 34 in Bowles's Universal Atlas, London: Printed for and sold by the Proprietor, Carington Bowles &c. [Folio. No date.]
34 Evans 1 Map.
Many of the maps in this volume are variously dated between 1779 and 1792, but some, like this one, are undated. As some are dated as late as 1792, the Universal Atlas (unless previously issued with different contents) could not have been issued before 1792; and as Carington Bowles was succeeded in 1794 by Bowles and Carver, it is pretty safe to assign the date of 1792 or 1793 to it. The map, whether issued separately or in the volume, could not be before 1791, as the new State of Vermont is marked. Comparing the New Pocket Map with Carington Bowles' previous issue of 1771, the principal alterations are as follow: The State of Vermont is added. The Indian Legends are omitted. The Boundary of the United States is shown by a bold dotted line through Lakes Ontario, Erie and Huron; and the Country to the North of Lake Erie is filled in with rivers, lakes and trees. Only the scale and one legend remain in the top left-hand corner above the sketch map of Ohio. But the old physical errors in the mountains and swamps, to which Pownall in 1776 took such strong exception in describing the Jefferys piracy, still remain, for the Bowles edition of 1771 was copied from the Jefferys plate of 1758 (vide No. IV).
Although this map cannot compare with that of 1776 (No. VII) for accuracy and up-to-dateness, the publishers deserve some credit for retaining the name of Evans as the author.
IX.
1794-1807. LAURIE AND WHITTLE'S RE-ISSUE OF SAYER AND BENNET'S PLATE OF 1776.
IN 1794 our other old friend, the Kitchin-Jefferys-Sayer-Sayer & Bennet plate, last used as our No. VII in 1776, again comes to life as " A New and General Map " after some eighteen years' slumber (unless used in the meantime in some edition not yet identified). The name of Evans had already been omitted from the title of 1776, and now in 1794 Pownall is also relegated to oblivion, although no alterations of any importance have been made since his corrections of 1776. The new title now reads
A new and general Map / of the Middle Dominions belonging to the / United States of America, / viz., Virginia, Maryland, the Delaware Counties, / Pennsylvania, New Jersey &c. / with the Addition of New York, & of the Greatest Part of New England &c. / as also of the Bordering Parts of the British Possessions in Canada. / London: / Published by
36 Evans Map.
Laurie & Whittle, No 53 Fleet Street. / as the Act directs, 12th May 1794./Almost the only alteration in this edition from that of 1776 is the addition of a dotted line through the Lakes to show the Boundary of Canada and the United States. The headline title, " The Seat of War," etc., is, of course, omitted, and the border line reinstated.
From the imprint it seems probable that this map was sold separately in 1794, but it also appears as sheet No. 47 in A new and elegant Imperial Sheet Atlas, published by Laurie and Whittle in 1798. It is also to be found as Sheet No. 71 in A New Universal Atlas, Third Edition, published by the same firm in 1799. It also forms Sheet No. 50 in the New Edition of A New and elegant Imperial Sheet Atlas, published in 1807 by the same firm. In all these atlases the plate still bears the date of 12th May, 1794, though, as the paper varies, apparently reprinted for each edition of the atlas. It is quite possible that the map may have been issued in later editions of some of these atlases, for the firm of Laurie and Whittle seems to have been carried on till 1813, after which date the name seems to have been changed to Whittle and Laurie, who continued to carry on business down to 1819, when the name of the firm drops out altogether from the " London Directory."
X.
1797-1800? BOWLES AND CARVER'S RE-ISSUE OF CARINGTON BOWLES' PLATE OF 1792-3(?).
BOWLES and Carver in 1794 succeeded to the business of Carington Bowles, and continued to publish the Universal Atlas with their imprint, but still undated. The Bowles Plate of Evans' Map again appears therein, this time as No. 33. The title now reads:
Bowles's / New one-sheet Map / of the / Independent States / of / Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pensylvania, /New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, &c. / Comprehending also the / habitations & hunting countries of the / Confederate Indians: / by Lewis Evans. / Printed for the Proprietors Bowles and Carver, / N° 69 in St Paul's Church Yard, / London /The date of this issue is very uncertain.
Considerable alterations in the plate have again been made. The old name, Aquanishuonigy, is omitted, and
38 Evans Map of the
the district south of Lake Erie is now named "Western Territory." To the South of the Ohio River, the new State of Kentucky (admitted 1792) is shown. Tennessee is also marked, but whether intended as the Territory (1794) or the State (1796) there is nothing to show. A small district, corresponding somewhat to the present State of West Virginia, is marked " Indiana" but does not seem to have any connection with the position of Indiana Territory as organized in 1800, or the State as admitted in 1816, because it is south of the River Ohio in the angle made by the Little Kanhawa River. This Indiana seems to correspond almost exactly to the district marked by that name in Hutchins' New Map of the Western Parts of Virginia, &c., published by him in 1778. In his Topographical Description of Virginia, &c., published in the same year to accompany the Map, he says: "Indiana, as may be seen in my Map, lies
" within the territory here described. It contains about
"three millions and an half of Acres, and was granted
"to Samuel Wharton, William Trent, and George
"Morgan, Esquires, and a few other persons, in the year 1768."
Possibly the approximate date for this state of the plate may be between 1797 and 1800, but in all probability the map continued current in the Universal Atlas for many years later, as the firm of Bowles and Carver was carried on till 1832. In the Universal Atlas as issued by Bowles and Carver, all the imprints of the maps in Carington Bowles' edition are altered
Middle British Colonies. 39
to that of the new firm, and all the dates are omitted. It is accordingly very difficult to assign an exact date. Turning to Map No. 31 in the same volume, in the General Map of the United States we find Louisiana and East and West Florida are specially designated as belonging to Spain. As Louisiana was retroceded to France in 1800, it is pretty safe to assume that this edition of the Universal Atlas must have been issued before the date of that important event.
CONCLUSION.
IT now only remains to thank Mr. Basil H. Soulsby, the Superintendent of the Map Room in the British Museum, and his assistant, Mr. T. C. Chubb, for the cordial and ready help offered and rendered to the search, in placing their knowledge of the resources of their Department at the disposal of the writer.
With their kind assistance the bibliographical history of Evans' Map has now been traced from 1755 to 1807 in no less than ten distinct and separate states :
2 issues of the original plate ;
5 issues of the Kitchin-Jefferys plate;
and 3 issues of the Bowles plate.
It is quite possible, indeed highly probable, that other states, reprints, or variations exist which have not as yet come under notice, particularly as this investigation has only been a very short time in hand.
When it is realized that the same old copper plate of
Conclusion. 41
1756, was re-issued in 1807 as A New and General Map after a life of 51 years, with three intermediate aliases, one is tempted to exclaim, " Good 'Evans, is it possible!" Verily, as the Preacher of old hath it,
" there is no new thing under the sun."
CHISWICK PRESS: CHARLES WHITTINGHAM AND CO. TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE, LONDON.
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