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Joseph Bouchette's topographical map of the District of Montreal, published on May 2nd, 1831, by James Wyld and engraved by J. & C. Walker, provides a detailed representation of Lower Canada during a period of significant growth and change. This map, spanning from Isle du Grande Calumet on the Ottawa River to Lake Saint Pierre on the Saint Lawrence, captures the region's geographic and urban development in the early 19th century.

Bouchette, serving as Surveyor General of British North America, created this map to document the rapidly evolving landscape of Lower Canada. The map's extensive coverage includes portions of Upper Canada and extends south beyond the United States border, incorporating parts of New York, Vermont, and Lake Champlain. This comprehensive view reflects the complex political and economic relationships between British North America and the United States in the post-War of 1812 era.

Rumsey (4434) contextualizes the map within Bouchette's similar output:

Essentially, this map of Montreal District and the sister map of Quebec are of the same large scale of the 1815 Map of Lower Canada, but actually enlarge the area of coverage (the mother map was already over ten feet long) to a combined length of over fifteen feet, all with massive updating to show the growth of settlement and survey. The Montreal map also emphasizes the Rideau Canal with a large inset map and by adding that portion of Upper Canada through with the canal passes (the text refers to the canal as Canada's equivalent of the Erie Canal).

The inclusion of the Rideau Canal, shown both in the main map and a dedicated inset, underscores the strategic and economic importance of this newly constructed waterway. Completed in 1832, just a year after this map's publication, the canal was a major engineering feat designed to provide a secure supply route between Montreal and Kingston in the event of American aggression.

The map's depiction of the Ottawa region, then known as Wright Village and By Town, is particularly noteworthy. Bouchette's detailed rendering of this area highlights its growing importance as a center of the timber trade and its strategic location at the confluence of the Rideau and Ottawa Rivers. The careful attention given to this region foreshadows its future significance in Canadian politics and commerce.

Montreal, the commercial heart of Lower Canada, receives extensive treatment in the map. Bouchette outlines urban blocks, buildings, and even includes a pictorial representation of a church.

Bouchette's map serves multiple purposes. It documents the region's topography, waterways, and settlements with precision, providing a valuable tool for administration and planning. Simultaneously, it offers a snapshot of Lower Canada's development at a crucial juncture in its history, capturing the region's transition from a primarily rural colony to one with growing urban centers and expanding infrastructure.

The map's blend of geographic accuracy and artistic elements reflects Bouchette's skill as both a surveyor and a cartographer. His attention to detail in representing both natural features and human settlements makes this map an enduring document in the cartographic history of Canada, offering a wealth of information about the region's geography, urban development, and infrastructure in the early 19th century.

Rumsey indicates that the map was Issued to accompany the Bouchette's The British Dominions in North America of 1832. In the preface, referring to this map and the map of Quebec, Bouchette states:

In the general frame work of the maps of Lower Canada, which are upon a large and explanatory scale, the author was materially aided by his previous topographical exhibit of that province, published in 1815...but the details are entirely new and compiled, with the greatest care, from numerous original surveys and documents of indubitable authenticity, that have enabled him to lay down every minutia of topography.

Rarity

Rare. Not in OldMaps.com. No appearances at auction in 20 years, with the last record at Sotheby's in 2002. Before that, the next most recent RBH record was Francis Edwards, 1948.

Winearls (515) records examples in the Public Records Office, London; Cartographic Archives Division, National Archives, Ottawa; Archives of Ontario, Toronto; and the Metropolitan Toronto Reference Library. In addition to this, we can add Rumsey Map Center, Stanford University, and the BnF.