Superb 18th C French & Indian War Map Of North America RHODE, I.C., Theatrum belli in America Septentrionali [with inset of Fort Frederick/Crown Point], Circa:1761. 22 1/4” x 31 1/2”. Two sheets, joined. Copper-engraving with original hand color. This is the second state of Rhode’s rare Theatrum Belli, one of the most important maps for the French & Indian War published in Germany. It was originally issued c.1755 without the inset, which was added to this second state after Fort Frederick’s capture by the British in 1759 when it was renamed “Crown Point.” The map depicts in great detail the English colonies from Pimlico Sound to Nova Scotia, plus eastern Canada, the Great Lakes and the Ohio Valley. The map’s obscurity is surprising as it is unquestionably one of the finest, if not the finest, map of the French and Indian War published in any country other than the belligerent nations. For this reason, Rhode’s map occupies a unique niche as it is neutral in its detail, while the maps published in France and England were created to advance their claims. The map testifies that interest in the conflict in America was widespread throughout Europe, where it was seen as just one theatre of the greater Seven Years War. That Rhode chose to give his map a Latin title suggests that he intended it for a wider market than Germany. According to Brown, the map was “engraved and printed in Germany, possibly for inclusion in a general atlas of the world. However, the two copies examined, one in the Library of Congress and the other in the William Clements Library, are in separate form.” No atlas that includes the map has been located and relatively few copies have survived; it seldom appears on the market. Brown praises the map as “one of the earliest attempts to indicate the topography of the Ohio Valley and and the surrounding country as well as the dense forests and mountain ranges. The use of fine shading and hachures to indicate relief is unusual for the period...” Rhode seems to differentiate between the settled and unsettled regions of America through the use of forests in relief, and shows a great savannah along the banks of the Wabash and Illinois rivers. The inset of Crown Point has been adapted from the corresponding plate in Le Rouge’s Recueil des Plans del’Amerique Septentrionale, Paris, 1755. References: Lloyd Brown, Early Maps of the Ohio Valley, #23; Sellers & Van Ee, Maps & Charts of North America & the West Indies 1750-1789, #59; Tooley, Dictionary of Mapmakers, p. 536. In a superb state of preservation. Call gallery 802-362-3540 Suggested Retail Price $12,000.Stock # RT111703

Antique Paper Items
Antique Maps