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- Canada Published 1799 - SOLD
Canada Published 1799 - SOLD
MAP of CANADA British Colonies by John C Russell 1799. Fine map of British Colonies in North America by John Charles Russell for Guthrie's "New System of Geography". Copper engraved with outline hand colour, drawn from the Best Authorities . . . . . By John Charles Russell Sept 1st 1799 Published as the Act Directs by C. Dilley & G G & J. Robinson, Sept 1st 1799.
Good condition, copper plate engraving, some age tone, original outline colour with additional wash colour, fold as issued. Some engraved offset and print show through.
Approx engraved area: 18" x 17.5" (460mm x 440mm) Double Page folio size map
Notes: The map depicts the region from the 'Stony Mountains' (Rocky Mountains) to the Atlantic Ocean and from Baffin's Bay and Greenland to the northern United States, including the Great Lakes. Among other elements, Russell identifies the first two European overland expeditions to the Arctic Sea. The first, the mouth of the Coppermine River, was explored by Samuel Hearne in 1770 and 1771. He set out in December 1770, on his third (and only successful) expedition in the far north. Aided by Chipewyan guides and later joined by Dene (both members of the First Nations), Hearne became the first European to reach the shore of the Arctic Ocean by an overland route. In doing so, he proved that there was no northwest passage via the Hudson Bay. The second, the mouth of the Mackenzie River, illustrates the explorations of Sir Alexander Mackenzie in 1789 on behalf of the North West Company. Mackenzie set out from Fort Chipewyan on July 10th and reached the mouth of the river in the Arctic Ocean on July 14th. Reportedly, Mackenzie names the river 'Disappointment River' as it did not empty into Cook Inlet in Alaska as he believed it would. The river was later renamed in his honour.
A Genuine Antique Map over 220 years old