1786 Tardieu and Evans Map of the Middle British Colonies: Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky

An elegant 1787 French edition of Louis Evans' seminal and influential map of the Middle British Colonies, one of the most important maps of the British colonies and the best colonial mapping of the Ohio River Valley. It was issued for Michel Guillaume St. Jean de Crevecoeur's 1787 Lettres d'un Cultivateur Ameriquain, one of the most influential works on colonial America.

Coverage

The map covers from Louisville on the Ohio River eastward as far as Narragansett Bay and Long Island, northwards as far as Montreal, and south to the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, inclusive of Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, and most of the Ohio River Valley. A large inset map in the upper left, as indicated in its title, shows the remaining westward course of the Ohio River, but it also reveals the upper Mississippi River, the Illinois River, and the relationship of those rivers to Lakes Michigan and Huron.

Milestone Geography

Along with Mitchell's map of North America issued in the same year, the 1755 Evans map is considered a milestone for 18th century American cartography. Both maps were designed to spur colonial expansion into the Trans-Allegheny - what is today western Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, and Kentucky. According to Schwartz, the Evans map was 'the most ambitious performance of its kind undertaken in America up to that time' and McCorkle considers it 'one of the most important maps made in the colonial period'. Unlike most previous maps of this region, including the Mitchell map referenced above, Evans based this map heavily on his own actual survey work. This he supplemented with firsthand reports from frontiersmen and guides well acquainted with the area. Evans issued this map in the opening years of the French and Indian War, but even after the conflict his map offered a solid foundation for settlers to occupy the territory passing into British hands. The quality of the map and its long-standing influence are revealed by the map's long, albeit unauthorized print history: Evans' work would remain the definitive geography of the region for over 50 years.

A Closer Look

In addition to its broader significance, this map abounds with fine detail - the kind of information that would be exceptionally useful for a prospective settler - and rewards close study. It depicts hundreds of European and Native American settlements, as well as numerous roads and the sites of swamps, mountains, resources, and important portages. In addition, Dartmouth College is identified on the Connecticut River, 'elephant bones' and 'Antiques Sculptures' in Ohio, salt and limestone quarries throughout, petroleum in western Pennsylvania, and coal deposits.

Updates

This French edition is not merely a slavish reissue of American and British work. The French had considerable knowledge of this region, far more than the British, and numerous valuable additions are apparent throughout. The tributaries of the Ohio River are shown in greater detail than in any other iteration of the Evans. The Niagara River Valley also features more detail. This Tardieu edition of the map is the only version of the Evans to include the border between New York and Pennsylvania. Kentucky is (prematurely) named as a state; there are early references to important cities. It is one of the first maps, possibly the first, to name Louisville; it also names Leestown, which was the first Anglo-American settlement on the north side of the Kentucky River and is now part of Frankfort. The map names numerous American Indian tribes. The inset map also includes the Portage of Chikago (Chicago), as well as Fort Erie and St. Louis.

Publication History and Census

As with most great maps, the Evans map was extensively reissued and pirated, going through 27 known editions over the subsequent 50 years. The present example was re-engraved by Pierre Tardieu based upon Jefferys' plagiarization of Evans' original. It was intended for publication in accompaniment of Michel Guillaume St. Jean de Crevecoeur's 1787 Lettres d'un Cultivateur Ameriquain (Letters of an American Farmer). The book was successful and widely disseminated, and is well represented in institutional collections. Only five examples of the separate map are listed in OCLC, but it does appear on the market from time to time.