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MAP #: 289CA.09

CARTOGRAPHER : COLLES, CHRISTOPHER

DATE: 1789

SHORT TITLE : FROM ANNAPOLIS (63) TO BLADENSBURG.

REMAINING TITLE & ID : (ABOVE TOP NEAT LINE). NO LATITUDE OR LONGITUDE LINES ARE GIVEN. THE MAP IS ORGANIZED INTO THREE STRIP MAPS, GIVING MILE NUMBERS FROM 8 THROUGH 21. THERE IS NOTHING ON THE REVERSE SIDE. MAP FEATURES AND DESCRIPTIVE DATA EXTEND INTO ALL FOUR MARGINS.

DATE OF PUBLICATION : S1789
PLACE OF PUBLICATION : NEW YORK
PUBLISHER : n.p.
LANGUAGE(S) : EN
SIZE (HEIGHT X WIDTH) : 17.0 X 11.4 CM. (EXCL. TITLE AND MAP PROJECTING THRU NEAT LINE)
SIZE - OTHER DATA : 21 X 15 CM. OM
SCALE - (RF) 1: : 3,000
SCALE - OTHER DATA : 1 3/4" = 1 MI.
LIB. OF CONGRESS # : -
Md. HALL OF RECORDS # 1 : G1399-441
HUNTINGFIELD ACQ. # 1 : A017-HIF
REGION CATEGORY : DETAILED MAP COVERING SOME PORTION OF MD/CHESAPEAKE (2)
SPECIAL CATEGORY(IES) :
# SHEETS TO MAP : 1
MAP ORIENTATION : SW IS AT THE TOP OF THE LEFT STRIP, W IS AT TOP OF 2 RIGHT STRIPS.
RELIEF SHOWN ? : YES
HYDROGRAPHIC DATA : NONE
CARTOUCHE : NONE (1)
BORDER : PLAIN (2)
PRIME MERIDIAN(S) : NONE
SEE ALSO MAP #s : 289CA.01-289CA.11
BEST INFO SOURCE : RISTOW AND WHEAT & BRUN ARE THE BEST FOUND.
DESCRIPTION : THIS MAP WAS PUBLISHED IN CHRISTOPHER COLLES A SURVEY OF THE ROADS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, NEW YORK, 1789 AS MAP # 63 OF 83. IT IS A STRIP TYPE ROAD MAP IN THREE VERTICAL STRIPS, COVERING THE ROAD FROM SEVEN AND ONE HALF MILES WEST OF ANNAPOLIS, PAST GRAY'S MILL OVER THE GOVERNOR'S BRIDGE ACROSS THE PATUXEN RIVER TO BALDWIN'S TAVERN, 21 MILES FROM ANNAPAOLIS. SYMBOLS SHOW HILLS, HOUSES, ROAD MILE NUMBERS, NAMES OF LANDOWNERS, TYPE TERRAIN, BRIDGES AND TAVERNS. DIRECTION ARROWS ARE USED TO INDICATE NORTH ON THE STRIPS.

COLLES SURVEY WAS THE FIRST PUBLISHED COLLECTION OF ROAD MAPS OF AMERICA AND IT COVERED THE MAJOR ROADS BETWEEN ALBANY, N.Y. AND YORKTOWN, VIRGINIA. ACCORDING TO RISTOW, IT WAS ONE OF THE MOST DETAILED AND COMPREHENSIVE HISTORICAL RECORDS OF THE U.S. AT ITS CONSTITUTIONAL ESTABLISHMENT. IT IS LIKELY THAT COLLES DID SURVEYING AND MAPPING IN NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY DURING THE REVOLUTION, BUT THERE IS NO RECORD OF ANY TRAVELS BY HIM SOUTH OF PHILADELPHIA AT ANY TIME. IT IS PROBABLE THAT THE MAP DESCRIBED HEREIN AND THE OTHERS FOR MARYLAND (SEE MAPS # 289CA.01-289CA.11) ARE BASED ON SURVEYING DONE BY ROBERT ERSKINE AND SIMEON DEWITT (MILITARY GEOGRAPHERS AND SUCCESSIVE SURVEYORS-GENERAL) FOR THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT THE ORDER OF GENERAL WASHINGTON BEGINNING IN 1777. THE SOUTHERN ROUTES IN THE SURVEY CORRESPOND QUITE DIRECTLY WITH THOSE THAT WASHINGTON DIRECTED DEWITT TO UNDERTAKE AND THE NAMES AND FEATURES ARE ALMOST IDENTICAL. HOWEVER, IN FORMAT AND SYMBOLS, THE SURVEY MAPS ARE QUITE DISSIMILAR. MANY OF THE MANUSCRIPT MAPS BY ERSKINE-DEWITT ARE IN THE NY HISTORICAL SOCIETY.

THE STRIP MAP WAS WELL ADAPTED TO THE GEOGRAPHIC CONDITIONS OF THE PERIOD. OTHER THAN FOR SHIP TRAVEL, ROADS WERE THE ONLY METHOD OF TRAVEL AND COMMUNICATION. ROADS HAD NOT EVEN BEEN INCLUDED ON ANY AMERICAN MAPS UNTIL 1729. THE FEATURES IN COLLES MAPS, SUCH AS TAVERNS FOR OVERNIGHT ACCOMODATION, BLACKSMITHS, NAMES OF LANDOWNERS, ETC. WOULD HAVE BEEN MOST USEFUL TO TRAVELLERS. THE SURVEY, DESPITE ITS HISTORICAL IMPORTANCE, WAS NOT A COMMERCIAL SUCCESS. ORIGINALLY DESIGNED TO BE ISSUE ON A SUBSCRIPTION BASIS, STARTING IN 1789, THE SURVEY AS ORIGINALLY CONCEIVED WAS NEVER FULLY COMPLETED. IT WAS DISCONTINUED IN LATE 1791 OR EARLY 1792.

CORNELIUS TIEBOUT, ONE OF THE FIRST AMERICAN BORN ENGRAVERS, MAY HAVE ENGRAVED THE MAPS IN COLLES SURVEY. HOWEVER, NONE ARE SIGNED BY HIM AND HIS CONTRIBUTION MAY HAVE BEEN TO ENGRAVE ONLY THE TITLE PAGE AND SOME OF THE EARLIER PLATES. IT IS ALSO POSSIBLE THAT COLLES DAUGHTER, ELIZA, ENGRAVED SOME OF THE PLATES. DIFFERENCES IN STYLE AND SYMBOLS SUGGEST THE WORK OF MORE THAN ONE ENGRAVER.

DATA IS PRIMARILY FROM RISTOW'S ESSAY AND FROM WHEAT & BRUN. IT ALSO CAME FROM EXAMINATION OF THE COPIES IN THE HUNTINGFIELD COLLECTION.

EDITION & STATE INFO : ONLY A SINGLE EDITION AND STATE OF THIS MAP IS KNOWN.

HFC OWNERSHIP DATA : HFC HAS AN EXCELLENT BLACK AND WHITE COPY OF THIS MAP, DETACHED FROM THE SURVEY. IT ALSO HAS MAPS 55,56,58,59,61,62,64 AND 65 FROM THE SURVEY ALSO IN BLACK AND WHITE AND PHOTOCOPIES OF MAPS 57 AND 60.

BIBLIGRAPHICAL REFS. : PHILLIPS, ATLASES, # 1326; EVANS, # 21741; SABIN, # 14411; CHURCH, # 1236; STREETER, CATALOG OF AMERICANA, # 3963; WHEAT & BRUN, MAPS AND CHARTS PUBLISHED IN AMERICA BEFORE 1800, # 507, REVISED EDITION, 1978, THE HOLLAND PRESS LTD., WHITSTABLE, KEND,P. 110;RISTOW, WALTER W., CHRISTOPHER COLLES EARLY AMERICAN ENGINEER AND CARTOGRAPHER, PART ONE OF FACSIMILE EDITION OF ORIGINAL EDITION OF THE SURVEY BY CHRISTOPHER COLLES, HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS, CAMBRIDGE, MASS., 1961 (SEE THE GENERAL BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THIS WORK FOR AN EXTENSIVE BIBLIOGRAPHY ON COLLES); PHILLIPS, MAPS, PP. 867-868.

July 12, 1988


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