1776 Faden / Sauthier Map of the Hudson River and Lakes Champlain and George

Hudson-sauthier-1776
$7,500.00
A Topographical Map of Hudsons River, with the channels depth of water, rocks, shoals etc. and the country adjacent, from Sandy-Hook, New York and bay to Fort Edward, also the communication with Canada by Lake George and Lake Champlain, as high as Fort Chambly on Sorel River. - Main View
A Topographical Map of Hudsons River, with the channels depth of water, rocks, shoals etc. and the country adjacent, from Sandy-Hook, New York and bay to Fort Edward, also the communication with Canada by Lake George and Lake Champlain, as high as Fort Chambly on Sorel River. - Main View
A Topographical Map of Hudsons River, with the channels depth of water, rocks, shoals etc. and the country adjacent, from Sandy-Hook, New York and bay to Fort Edward, also the communication with Canada by Lake George and Lake Champlain, as high as Fort Chambly on Sorel River. - Alternate View 1
A Topographical Map of Hudsons River, with the channels depth of water, rocks, shoals etc. and the country adjacent, from Sandy-Hook, New York and bay to Fort Edward, also the communication with Canada by Lake George and Lake Champlain, as high as Fort Chambly on Sorel River. - Alternate View 2
A Topographical Map of Hudsons River, with the channels depth of water, rocks, shoals etc. and the country adjacent, from Sandy-Hook, New York and bay to Fort Edward, also the communication with Canada by Lake George and Lake Champlain, as high as Fort Chambly on Sorel River. - Main View Thumbnail
A Topographical Map of Hudsons River, with the channels depth of water, rocks, shoals etc. and the country adjacent, from Sandy-Hook, New York and bay to Fort Edward, also the communication with Canada by Lake George and Lake Champlain, as high as Fort Chambly on Sorel River. - Alternate View 1 Thumbnail
A Topographical Map of Hudsons River, with the channels depth of water, rocks, shoals etc. and the country adjacent, from Sandy-Hook, New York and bay to Fort Edward, also the communication with Canada by Lake George and Lake Champlain, as high as Fort Chambly on Sorel River. - Alternate View 2 Thumbnail
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1776 Faden / Sauthier Map of the Hudson River and Lakes Champlain and George

Hudson-sauthier-1776

Heart of British Strategy in the Revolutionary War.
$7,500.00

Title

A Topographical Map of Hudsons River, with the channels depth of water, rocks, shoals etc. and the country adjacent, from Sandy-Hook, New York and bay to Fort Edward, also the communication with Canada by Lake George and Lake Champlain, as high as Fort Chambly on Sorel River.
  1776 (dated)     31.5 x 21 in (80.01 x 53.34 cm)     1 : 253440

Description

This is Claude Joseph Sauthier's scarce, magnificent 1776 map of the Hudson River, Lake George, and Lake Champlain: the linchpin of Great Britain's strategy to swiftly achieve victory in the American Revolution. Control of the strategic New York - Montreal corridor would have divided the colonies effectively, allowing Britain to defeat the Revolution piecemeal.
A Closer Look
Sauthier's map is divided into three panels in order to present its lengthy subject on a single sheet. The left panel covers from the mouth of New York Harbor to the vicinity of Saugerties and Rhinebeck; the middle carries from there up to the juncture of Lakes George and Champlain, including the vital confluence of the Hudson and the Mohawk Rivers above Albany; the right panel spans from Lake George to Fort Chambly, the nearest point of the corridor to Montreal; it also notes the border between the provinces of New York and Canada. Typical of the high quality of British charts and maps of the Revolutionary War period, the map shows not only the major waterways but also their tributaries in excellent detail, including depth soundings (fathoms in the south, but noted in feet north of Kinderhook). Other military features such as forts, roads, ferry landings, and industrial works are noted. In Brooklyn, August 27, 1776, the date of the American defeat is noted, as are the roads and locations relevant to the Battle of Brooklyn.
The Theater of War
The area depicted here was the site of the most important early campaigns of the American Revolutionary War (1775 - 1783). A British force led by Guy Carleton invaded from the north to take Lake Champlain but was turned back by Benedict Arnold at Valcour Island. The British push was fully stymied in 1777 at Saratoga (labeled here). The Battle of Valcour Island had not yet occurred at the printing of this second state of the map: further states were amended to record the battle, albeit as a categorical British victory.
Publication History and Census
Sauthier's map was engraved and published in London on October 1, 1776 by William Faden. A first state, showing the rivers and lakes only in outline, exists: according to Stevens and Tree, the present example corresponds to the second issue (with the same publication date.) A third state, with the imprint changed to 'Engraved by William Faden, Successor to the late Mr. Jefferys, Geographer to the King, Charing Cross,' bore a notation regarding the start of the Battle of Valcour Island, which included the date October 11. A fourth state, including the date October 12, notes the denouement of the battle. The later states were printed for inclusion in Faden's 1777 North American Atlas. We see examples of the separate map at the Bibliotheque National de France, the Wisconsin Historical Society, and the Library of Congress, all in examples of the third state. Perhaps a dozen examples of Faden's North American Atlas are listed in OCLC. The later states of the map correspond to the 1777 date associated with the atlas.

CartographerS

Claude Joseph Sauthier (November 10, 1736 - 1802) was a French born surveyor, cartographer, and draftsman active in the British Colonies in North America just prior to the American Revolutionary War. Sauthier was born in Strasbourg, France, where he trained under Dezallier d'Agenvie and Jean Baptiste Alexandre le Blond as a garden designer and draftsman. He migrated to America in 1767 at the request of North Carolina royal governor William Tyron who was perhaps familiar with his book, A Treatis on Public Architecture and Garden Planning. Sauthier mapped much of the province of North Carolina before being promoted to the office of Surveyor of the Province of New York. Sauthier oversaw the surveying of numerous regional and provincial boundary disputes before the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War. During the Revolutionary War he was reassigned to the British Corps of Engineers, preparing an important survey for General Howe of New York and another of Staten Island. Sauthier was later attached to the staff of General Hugh Percy, who commanded the British Forces in Rhode Island. When Percy retired to his family estate, Alnwick Castle, in England, Sauthier accompanied him as a personal secretary. Ultimately, after a long, impactful, and adventurous career, Sauthier returned to his hometown of Strasburg where resided until his death on November 26, 1802. He was 66. More by this mapmaker...


William Faden (July 11, 1749 - March 21, 1836) was a Scottish cartographer and map publisher of the late 18th century. Faden was born in London. His father, William MacFaden, was a well-known London printer and publisher of The Literary Magazine. During the Jacobite Rebellion (1745 - 1746), MacFaden changed his family name to Faden, to avoid anti-Scottish sentiment. Faden apprenticed under the engraver James Wigley (1700 - 1782), attaining his freedom in 1771 - in the same year that Thomas Jefferys Sr. died. While Thomas Jefferys Sr. was an important and masterful mapmaker, he was a terrible businessman, and his son, Jefferys Jr., had little interest in building on his father's legacy. MacFaden, perhaps recognizing an opportunity, purchased his son a partnership in the Jefferys firm, which subsequently traded as 'Faden and Jefferys'. Jefferys Jr. also inherited Jefferys Sr.'s title, 'Geographer to the King and to the Prince of Wales'. With little interest in cartography or map publishing, Jefferys Jr. increasingly took a back seat to Faden, and by 1776, he had withdrawn from day-to-day management, although he retained his financial stake. The American Revolutionary War (1775 - 1783) proved to be a boom for the young 'Geographer to the King', who leveraged existing materials and unpublished manuscript maps to which he had access via his official appointment to publish a wealth of important maps, both for official use and the curious public - this period of prosperity laid the financial underpinning for Faden, who by 1783, at the end of the war, acquired full ownership of the firm and removed the Jefferys imprint. In 1801, he engraved and published the first maps for the British Ordnance Survey. By 1822, Faden published over 350 maps, atlases, and military plans. He retired in 1823, selling his plates to James Wyld Sr. Faden died in 1836. Learn More...

Condition

Very good. One mended fold at top left with no loss. Trimmed to neatline eliminating publishing date outside bottom border. Some areas of oxidation from color on adjacent sheets. Original wash color and a beautiful patina.

References

OCLC 1238115270. Stevens, H. and Tree, R., 'Comparative Cartography', in Tooley, R. V., The Mapping of America, 23b.