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The Bowles & Carver Univeral Atlas is one of the rarer larger format late 18th Century English Atlases. While earlier imprints by Carrington Bowles appear on the market on occasion, this late edition is very unusual. The map depicts America on the eve of the 19th Century and the radical transformation that would see the European powers expelled from both North and South America. The table in the bottom left corner showing the various British, French, Spanish, Dutch, Danish, and Portugese possessions completely re-written over the next 75 years. Spain still dominates the American West, including the massive Louisiana Territory. The NW Coast of America is based upon the explorations along the NW Coast by Cook, La Perouse, etc., however the radical changes brought about by Lewis & Clark 10 years later are not yet in evidence and the course of the Upper Missouri is still largerly unknown. The Oregan River or River of the West popularized in the mid 18th Century by Jonathan Carver is still shown. Curious shape for Baja California. The Alaskan Archipelago is well formed, but the NW Passage and Arctic Coastline above Canada are still largely speculative. A nice example of this rare Bowles & Carver imprint.
