MAP #: 278C5
CARTOGRAPHER : CHURCHMAN JR., JOHN
DATE: 1778
SHORT TITLE : TO THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY
REMAINING TITLE & ID : THIS MAP OF THE PENINSULA BETWEEN DELAWARE & CHESOPEAK BAYS WITH THE SAID BAYS AND SHORES ADJACENT DRAWN FROM THE MOST ACCURATE SURVEYS IS INSCRIBED BY JOHN CHURCHMAN (CARTOUCHE, LOWER RIGHT CORNER). "THE PROPOSED CANALS ARE DESCRIBED BY DOTTED LINES" (LEFT CENTER). THERE IS A SCALE OF 40 BRITISH STATUTE MILES (CENTER BOTTOM). LONGITUDE FROM PHILADELPHIA (TOP AND BOTTOM BORDERS). THE EQUIVALENT GREENWICH LONGITUDE READING AT THE PHILADELPHIA MERIDIAN IS SHOWN (ABOVE AND TO LEFT OF CARTOUCHE). LATITUDE (RIGHT AND LEFT BORDERS).
THIS IS AN EXTREMELY ACCURATE MAP OF THE AREA, EXCEPT FOR THE ERRONEOUS LOCATION OF TANGIER AND WATTS ISLANDS. ALL THE COUNTIES EXCEPT WICOMOCO (WHICH WAS NOT A SEPARATE COUNTY AT THE TIME) ARE DEPICTED BY HAND-COLORED BOUNDARIES. THE PLACE OF PUBLICATION IS NOT NOTED. PHILLIPS INDICATES THAT THE MAP WAS PRINTED IN BALTIMORE AND STAUFFER ATTRIBUTED THE ENGRAVING TO HENRY DAWKINS. IF PHILLIPS IS CORRECT, THIS IS THE FIRST MAP OF THE CHESAPEAKE BAY PRINTED IN MARYLAND.
THERE IS SOME QUESTION AS TO THE DATE OF THIS MAP, AS IT WAS UNDATED. GEORGE JOHNSTON IN HIS HISTORY OF CECIL COUNTY, MARYLAND STATES THAT THE MAP WAS "EXECUTED" IN 1778. TOOLEY'S DICTIONARY LISTS THE DATE AS 1770. E.B. MATHEWS SUGGESTS THAT THE MAP APPEARS TO BE EARLIER THAN 1778, SINCE THE NAME "WEST NEW JERSEY" WAS NOT IN NORMAL USE AFTER 1776, BUT THAT THE MAP CANNOT BE ASSIGNED A MUCH EARLIER DATE BECAUSE OF THE YOUTH OF THE AUTHOR. PAPENFUSE & COALE USE THE DATE 1786, BUT MAY HAVE MEANT THIS TO REFER TO STATE 2, ALTHOUGH THE ILLUSTRATION IS OF STATE 1. IT IS LIKELY THAT THE MAP WAS DONE PRIOR TO 1781 BECAUSE THE JOHN HILL MANUSCRIPT MAP OF THAT YEAR ENTITLED "PLAN OF THE PENINSULA OF CHESOPEAK BAY..." BEARS A STRIKING RESEMBLANCE TO THE CHURCHMAN MAP AND HILL USUALLY MADE USE OF LOCAL SURVEYORS FOR HIS BASE MAPS.
JOHN CHURCHMAN JR. WAS BORN INTO A FAMILY OF SURVEYORS IN 1753. HE BECAME AN EMINENT SURVEYOR AND GEOMETRICIAN AND PUBLISHED A SERIES OF MAPS, OF WHICH THIS ONE IS OF MARKED IMPORTANCE. IN 1794 HE PUBLISHED A MAGNETIC ATLAS, OR VARIATION CHARTS OF THE WHOLE TERRAQUEOUS GLOBE IN LONDON. HE WAS WELL REGARDED AS AN AUTHORITY ON SCIENTIFIC SUBJECTS IN AMERICA AND EUROPE.
DATA IS FROM E.B. MATHEWS, WHEAT & BRUN, PHILLIPS, MAPS, PHILLIPS, VIRGINIA CARTOGRAPHY, AND PAPENFUSE & COALE.
EDITION & STATE INFO : THIS MAP IS ONLY KNOWN TO EXIST IN A SINGLE EDITION WITH TWO STATES.
STATE 1 - (1778?)- THIS IS THE COPY AS DESCRIBED. THE TOP BORDER IS NOT BROKEN. COPIES ARE IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM, LIB. OF CONG., CLEMENTS, NJ HIST. SOC., NY PUB. LIBRARY, HISTORICAL SOC. OF PENNSYLVANIA, AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOC., THE LIBRARY COMPANY OF PHILADELPHIA, THE JOHN EARLE COLLECTION AND IN THE HUNTINGFIELD COLLECTION.
STATE 2 - (1786?)- THE WORD "HUMBLY" HAS BEEN INSERTED BEFORE "INSCRIBED" IN THE DEDICATION. THE SUSQUEHANNA RIVER IS EXTENDED WELL BEYOND THE MARYLAND BORDER, BREAKING THROUGH THE UPPER MARGINAL DEGREE LINE AT "MIDLE T". SEVEN NAMED TRIBUTARIES HAVE BEEN ADDED ABOVE THE CANAWANGO. THERE IS STILL A BLANK SPACE IN THE CARTOUCHE ABOVE THE DEDICATION, WHICH IS THE ONLY TITLE. ON THE HARVARD COPY THE CONTEMPORARY MANUSCRIPT TITLE HAS BEEN FILLED IN: "THE STATE OF DELAWARE WITH THE EASTERN SHORE OF MARYLAND". THERE IS SOME QUESTION AS TO THE DATE. EBELING REFERS TO THIS STATE AS PUBLISHED IN BALTIMORE IN 1788. EVANS COPIES THE ADVERTISEMENT OR COPYRIGHT NOTICE AS "PHILADELPHIA: PRINTED AND SOLD BY ELEAZER OSWALD, 1787". THE MAP WAS ADVERTISED FOR SALE BY WILLIAM SPOTSWOOD IN THE PHILADELPHIA HERALD AND GENERAL ADVERTISER ON JULY 12, 1786 AND IN SEVERAL ISSUES FOLLOWING. IT WAS ALSO ADVERTISED IN THE CARLISLE GAZETTE ON AUGUST 23, 1786, AS "THIS DAY PUBLISHED AND SOLD BY THOMAS DOBSON AT THE NEW BOOK AND STATIONERY STORE IN SECOND STREET,TWO DOORS ABOVE CHESNUT (SIC) STREET, PHILADELPHIA....". THIS STATE WAS, LIKE THE 1ST, PUBLISHED SEPARATELY. COPIES ARE IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS AND HARVARD. SEE MAP # 286C5.
DATA ON STATES IS TAKEN FROM WHEAT & BRUN.
HFC OWNERSHIP DATA : HFC HAS A COPY OF STATE 1 IN OUTLINE COLOR, BACKED ON 18TH CENTURY LINEN. BASED ON THE CONDITION OF THE MAP, IT WAS PROBABLY USED BY A SHIP CAPTAIN OF THE TIME. IT HAS SEVERAL TEARS WHERE IT WAS FOLDED AND HAS HAD CONSIDERABLE BROWNING. IT IS MOUNTED BEHIND U-3 PLASTIC WITH A SEE-THROUGH BACK. HFC ALSO HAS A COPY OF THE 1937 REPRODUCTION BY THE U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF STATE 2 OF THIS MAP.
BIBLIGRAPHICAL REFS. : MATHEWS, E.B., THE MAPS AND MAP-MAKERS OF MARYLAND, BALTIMORE, 1898, PP. 401- 402; WHEAT & BRUN #477, P. 103, #479, P. 104; PHILLIPS, MAPS, P. 263, P. 395; PHILLIPS, VIRGINIA CARTOGRAPHY, WASHINGTON DC, 1896, PP. 58-59; AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY EARLY PROCEEDINGS 1744- 1838, PP. 103-4; FURTHEY & COPE, HISTORY OF CHESTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, PP. 497-498; JOHNSTON, GEORGE, HISTORY OF CECIL COUNTY, MARYLAND, P. 526; STAUFFER, DAVID M., AMERICAN ENGRAVERS, 2, NO. 465; EBELING, CHRISTOPH M., ERDBESCHREIBUNG UND GESCHICHTE VON AMERIKA,5, 2; EVANS # 20272; U.S. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS REPORT, 1907, P. 44; PRE-FEDERAL MAPS IN THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES: AN ANNOTATED LIST, LIST #26, WASHINGTON, D.C.,1971, P. 5, 1(2). A REPRODUCTION OF STATE 2 IS IN THE SERIES BY THE U.S.GEOLOGICAL SURVEY FOR THE U.S. CONSTITUTION SESQUICENTENNIAL COMMISSION, D.C., 1937; VERNER, COOLIE, UNPUBLISHED NOTES ON THE MAPS OF VIRGINIA; PAPENFUSE & COALE, AN ATLAS OF HISTORICAL MAPS OF MARYLAND, 1608-1908, JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY PRESS, BALTIMORE, 1982, PP. 59-60, PL. 61; GRAY, RALPH D., "THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE CHESAPEAKE AND DELAWARE CANAL, PART I, DELAWARE HISTORY, HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF DELAWARE, VOL.VIII, NO. 3, PP. 207-264, PART II, VOL. VII, NO. 4, PP. 354-397; PART III, VOL. IX, NO. 1, PP. 66-98.
May 5, 1988
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