Unattributed. “Map of Hudson’s River, with the adjacent Country”

Unattributed.  “Map of Hudson’s River, with the adjacent Country.”  From Gentleman’s Magazine. 

London: David Henry & Francis Newbery, January, 1778.  11 5/8 x 8 3/8.  Engraving. 3/8-1/2 horizontal loss of map expertly filled and in-painted.  Else, good condition. 

Beginning in 1731, monthly news magazines made their appearance in Britain.  One of their most popular, and historically important, features was the inclusion of prints and maps to accompany their articles.  During the American Revolution, these magazines issued a large number of maps in response to the great interest in the turbulent events in the colonies.  This map, issued at the beginning of 1778, shows the region of most of the activity in the war during 1777.  This map would undoubtedly have been studied avidly by its readers.

The area shown extends as far south as Philadelphia, to which Howe had moved in 1777, and as far north as Fort Ticonderoga, where Burgoyne had made a deceptively promising start to his great campaign down the Hudson from Canada.  The Mohawk River is shown, down which a British support wing had attempted and failed to link up with Burgoyne.  Of particular note is the insertion of a caption stating “Scene of Action on the Surrender,” at Saratoga where Burgoyne’s campaign came to its disastrous end.  The map shows good information of towns, rivers, lakes, and other such features.   This map would have fascinated the eighteenth century reader separated from the events of the conflict by many miles.  So too this map fascinates the modern reader similarly separated from the events, though by many years rather than miles.