Mead, Braddock [A Map of the most Inhabited part of New England,...]

Braddock Mead. [A Map of the most Inhabited part of New England,...]

[top two sheets only]. London: Thomas Jefferys, 1774. Engraving. Original hand and out line color. 20 1/2 x 38 1/4 (neat lines). Two of a total of four sheets joined. Right hand side of map faintly time toned. Else, very good condition. With inset at top left; "A Plan of the Town of Boston." Degrees of Latitude: 35; Stevens & Tree: 33(e).

The top half of a fascinating larger scale map of New England, whose copious and precise detail make it one of the finest map of the region ever issued. The map was drawn by Braddock Mead (aka John Green), an assistant to Thomas Jefferys, who through Jefferys had access to the latest general and specific maps available in London. Starting with the initial source of a 1753 map by William Douglas, and using quite a number of other sources as well, Braddock Mead produced a map that combined a wide scope with excellent topographical and political information. Such was its superiority and accuracy that it can be considered as the "Revolutionary War Map" of New England, used by both the British and the Americans during those hostilities, and it remained the prototype map of New England until the early nineteenth century.

Rivers, lakes, towns, townships, and roads are shown from the Gloucester, Massachusetts to present Kennebeck Bay, Maine. Of particular note is the indication of the dispute over the area that now constitutes Vermont, which was claimed by both New York and New Hampshire, a dispute that wasn't fully resolved until years later.