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An English Rarity -- First Appearance of Philadelphia on a Printed Map
Rare English map of America, which includes the earliest appearance of Philadelphia on a printed map.
This rare and important map of America, printed by Philip Lea and John Overton, represents a striking political statement, positioning England as the dominant colonial power in North America. First issued in 1684 (1 known example), it directly challenges French and Dutch cartographic claims, depicting a boldly exaggerated "English Empire" that spans the eastern part of the continent.
The map's geopolitical boundaries diverge dramatically from contemporary French maps, rejecting the innovations stemming from French exploration of the St. Lawrence River and the Great Lakes. Instead, it asserts English dominance, minimizing Hudson's Bay and showcasing a vast, undefined English territorial claim extending to the St. Lawrence.
The map's design combines elements from earlier Dutch cartography, particularly Frederick de Wit's Novissima et Accuratissima Totius Americae Descriptio (1675), with notable alterations emphasizing English territorial ambitions. While South America and insular California reflect de Wit's influence, the northeastern part of North America is entirely reimagined. Here, Lea introduces an expansive "English Empire" bordered to the north by the St. Lawrence River and flanked by "New Brittain" and "New North Wales." This redesign diminishes French territorial claims to a narrow strip labeled "New Franc" on the north bank of the St. Lawrence. Detailed attention is given to the British colonies, including Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and New England, with cities such as New York, Boston, and Philadelphia (appearing for the first time on a general map) prominently labeled.
The map's embellishments reflect its propagandistic purpose. A decorative cartouche in the lower left, adorned with the British Royal Arms and flanked by Indigenous warriors, emphasizes English sovereignty. The map includes a dedication in the upper right to Henry, Duke of Beaufort, a loyalist to James II, who's political fortunes declined with the ascension of William of Orange in 1689. A polar projection in the upper left reinforces the presumed vastness of English claims in North America, highlighting an open sea route between the Atlantic and Pacific.
This is a map which owing to its scarcity has been largely overlooked and mis-catalogued by Tooley and McLaughlin. With thanks to the fine scholarship of Henry Taliaferro in his description of the Custin Atlas at Colonial Williamsburg, we now know that this map was offered for sale as early as 1684 and that in all probability, there are three states of the map, the final state two adding an advertisement for maps of Africa, Asia and Europe, which are bound into the Custin Atlas but did not appear in Overton's 1684 catalogue of maps.
The map appeared at the height of the initial boom in English interest in its New Colonies and reflects the addition of English nomenclature throughout the new British Colonies.
Rarity
The map is extremely rare. State 1 and State 2 are known in 1 example each.
State 3 appears occasionally on the market. This is the second example we have offered for sale (1992-2024).
States
The map is known in three states:
- State 1 (1684): Phillip Lea imprint only.
- State 2 (1684): "Hercules in the Poultry" address in the imprint. "I Overtion" imprint added. James Moxon engraving credit below cartouche.
- State 3 (1688 ca.): Imprint chanted to "at ye Atlas and Hercules in Cheapside". Reference letters have been engraved in the borders, keyed to a the letterpress gazetteer. The note engraved in the map referring to these tables gives Lea's Cheapside address, so it seems unlikely that the there is an intermediate state, with the Poultry address and the reference letters present, as seems possible for the other maps.
The popular misconception of California as an island can be found on European maps from the sixteenth through the eighteenth centuries. From its first portrayal on a printed map by Diego Gutiérrez, in 1562, California was shown as part of North America by mapmakers, including Gerardus Mercator and Abraham Ortelius. In the 1620s, however, it began to appear as an island in several sources. While most of these show the equivalent of the modern state of California separated from the continent, others, like a manuscript chart by Joao Teixeira Albernaz I (ca. 1632) now in the collection of the National Library of Brasil shows the entire western half of North Americas as an island.
The myth of California as an island was most likely the result of the travel account of Sebastian Vizcaino, who had been sent north up the shore of California in 1602. A Carmelite friar, Fray Antonio de la Ascensión, accompanied him. Ascension described the land as an island and around 1620 sketched maps to that effect. Normally, this information would have been reviewed and locked in the Spanish repository, the Casa de la Contratación. However, the manuscript maps were intercepted in the Atlantic by the Dutch, who took them to Amsterdam where they began to circulate. Ascensión also published descriptions of the insular geography in Juan Torquemada’s Monarquia Indiana (1613) (with the island details curtailed somewhat) and in his own Relación breve of ca. 1620.
The first known maps to show California as an island were on the title pages of Antonio de Herrera’s Descripción de las Indias Occidentales (1622) and Jacob le Maire's Spieghel Der Australische Navigatie (1622). Two early examples of larger maps are those by Abraham Goos (1624) and another by Henry Briggs, which was included in Samuel Purchas’ Hakluytus Posthumus or Purchas his Pilgrimes (1625). In addition to Briggs and Goos, prominent practitioners like Jan Jansson and Nicolas Sanson adopted the new island and the practice became commonplace. John Speed’s map (1626-7), based on Briggs’ work, is well known for being one of the first to depict an insular California.
The island of California became a fixture on mid- and late-seventeenth century maps. The island suggested possible links to the Northwest Passage, with rivers in the North American interior supposedly connecting to the sea between California and the mainland. Furthermore, Francis Drake had landed in northern California on his circumnavigation (1577-80) and an insular California suggested that Spanish power in the area could be questioned.
Not everyone was convinced, however. Father Eusebio Kino, after extensive travels in what is now California, Arizona, and northern Mexico concluded that the island was actually a peninsula and published a map refuting the claim (Paris, 1705). Another skeptic was Guillaume De L’Isle. In 1700, De L’Isle discussed “whether California is an Island or a part of the continent” with J. D. Cassini; the letter was published in 1715. After reviewing all the literature available to him in Paris, De L’Isle concluded that the evidence supporting an insular California was not trustworthy. He also cited more recent explorations by the Jesuits (including Kino) that disproved the island theory. Later, in his map of 1722 (Carte d’Amerique dressee pour l’usage du Roy), De L’Isle would abandon the island theory entirely.
Despite Kino’s and De L’Isle’s work, California as an island remained common on maps until the mid-eighteenth century. De L’Isle’s son-in-law, Philippe Buache, for example, remained an adherent of the island depiction for some time. Another believer was Herman Moll, who reported that California was unequivocally an island, for he had had sailors in his offices that claimed to have circumnavigated it. In the face of such skepticism, the King of Spain, Ferdinand VII, had to issue a decree in 1747 proclaiming California to be a peninsula connected to North America; the geographic chimera, no matter how appealing, was not to be suffered any longer, although a few final maps were printed with the lingering island.
Philip Lea (fl. 1683-1700) was a central figure in the London map community at the end of the seventeenth century. He apprenticed under Robert Morden, with whom he later collaborated. Lea was made free of the Weavers Company in 1689. He was a publisher and a globe and instrument seller with ties to members of government. For example, Samuel Pepys lists him as his map advisor and colorist. He was not known primarily for his own original works, but for his reworking and reissuing of the work of others, particularly the county maps and world map of Christopher Saxton. He also acquired plates from John Seller, John Ogilby, and William Morgan, among others. Later in his career, he collaborated frequently with Herman Moll. After his death in 1700, Philip’s wife, Anne, carried on the business for several decades.
The Overton family was a prominent part of the printing, and mapmaking, industry in London in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. John Overton (1639/40-1713) was the son of a tailor who apprenticed to Stationer Thomas Gould. He was made free of the Stationers’ Company in 1663. Two years later, London was struck by the Great Plague of 1665-6. Peter Stent, a leading printseller, succumbed and Overton took over his shop. This burned in the Great Fire of 1666, but Overton had rebuilt by 1669, when he advertised his wares from the White Horse on Snow Hill. Overton specialized in prints, portraits, and especially maps and topographical views.
John was likely married three times and had seven children. His eldest, Thomas, emigrated to America. His second oldest, Henry, was executor of John’s will when the latter died in 1713. Henry (1675/6-1751) acquired his father’s stock in 1707 and ran the shop until his own death in 1751. He published many maps, most focusing on the British Isles. His shop and stock passed to his nephew, another Henry, son of John’s fourth son, James.
Henry the Elder’s brother, Philip (ca. 1681-1745), was also a printer and mapmaker. Philip served as his father’s apprentice and was made free of the Stationers’ in 1702. His father set him up in the trade in 1707 and by 1710 he was working from the sign of the Golden Buck in Fleet Street. Philip specialized in fine arts prints, including Hogarth’s Hudibras set (1726), but he also sold many maps. At his death in 1745 he left his shop to his widow, Mary. She ran the shop and then married James Sayer, whose brother, Robert, became Mary’s assistant. He took over the business in 1748 and became a famous purveyor of maps, charts, and views.
Back at the sign of the White Horse, Henry the Younger continued the family business, expanding their stock to include a large collection of landscape views. He often partnered with Robert Sayer. He continued in business until at least 1764, when he drops out of the historical record.
