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 Navigations of the several Rivers and Lakes contained therein
Philadelphia: B. Franklin, and D. Hall, 1755. First edition, first issue.
Quarto (9 ¾” x 7 1/8”; 247mm x 182mm): π2 A-D4 [$2 signed]. 18 leaves, pp. i-ii (title-page, blank) iii-iv, 1-32.
Bound in modern half red morocco over marbled boards. On the spine, two raised bands with single gilt fillets above and below. Title and author gilt to the second panel.
Lacking the map (as often). Rubbing to the edges of the boards. Slight scuffs to the fore-corners. Evenly tanned throughout, with damp-staining to D. Blind stamp of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania twice to π1, and their ink stamp to the title-page (π1r) and to pp. 3, 16 and 32.
Lewis Evans (ca. 1700–1756) was a Welsh geographer, who emigrated to North America in the 1730s, spending a considerable portion of his life working in Philadelphia and traveling throughout the Middle Colonies. He had trained as a surveyor and became friends with Benjamin Franklin in 1736 after buying a book from him; it was Franklin who encouraged him to pursue his scientific and geographic interests and explore the eastern coast. Accompanied by Conrad Weiser, who had extensive connections with Native Americans in the region, and the botanist John Bartram, Evans collected material for a detailed map of New York, New Jersey and Delaware, which, later modified to include Pennsylvania, was published in 1749 as A Map of Pensilvania, New Jersey, New-York, and the Three Delaware Counties.
Evans’s best-known map, however, is A General Map of the Middle British Colonies in America, which spanned from the Falls of the Ohio to Narragansett Bay and from Virginia to Montreal. Issued before the publication of the present item, it is sometimes included with it, but often — as here — not present. The text itself is of considerable value. In his “Analysis” Evans points out the advantages to the English colonies of the Ohio territory and vehemently urges a general study of that region and the ways by which it might be reached so that the French might be more easily driven out. He divides the eastern United States geomorphically for the first time, delineating the New England Upland, the Coastal Plain, the Fall Line, the Piedmont, the Blue Ridge, the Folded Appalachians, the Allegheny Front, and the Allegheny Plateau.
Evans 7411; Howes E 226; Sabin 23175; Streeter II:819 (second issue).
Item #KMP0003
Price: $18,000