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Published in 1755, the same year that a French and Indian force defeated a British army under Gen. Edward Braddock near Fort Duquesne, Thomas Jefferys’s map attempted to justify English claims in North America. Jefferys based his on the work of a French cartographer but transformed it into British propaganda, identifying French settlements as “incroachments” on English territory. The map later became a part of William Douglass's widely read Summary, Historical and Political ...of the British Settlements in North-America (1755). Encyclopedic in its coverage, the Summary remains an important source of information concerning British North America.

      Click on a section of the map to enlarge.

“North America from the French of Mr. D’Anville Improved with the Back Settlements of Virginia and Course of Ohio Illustrated with Geographical and Historical Remarks.”

London: Published by Thomas Jefferys, 1755.
Dimensions of entire sheet: 20 ¾ X 18 ¾ inches.
Dimensions of image: 19 15/16 X 17 7/8 inches.
Originally tipped into A Summary, Historical and Political of the First Planting, Progressive Improvements, and Present State of the British Settlements in North-America. By William Douglass. (Boston, 1755).

Click here to view citations for all of the maps.