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Rare miniature map of the Northern Colonies, extending west to the Ohio River, Lake Michigan and Green Bay, from John Gibson's Atlas Minimus, one ofthe earliest miniature English Atlases to include a number or regional maps of the Colonies.
The western detail of the map is interesting, showing Ft. St. Joseph, Sanduski, the Villages of the Hurons and Utanvas, St. Mary's and St. Mary's Falls, Muskingum, Hockhocken, Shanvanoah, Ft. duQuesne, Kiskiskies, Tuscarora and Bacealoons. Ft. Frontenac, Ft. Hunter, and Ft. Oswego appear, as does a Storehouse between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. Nice annotations on the region are included. A terrific American Miniature, which rarely appears on the market. This is one of the few works to include regional maps of the colonies at the time of the French & Indian War.
John Gibson flourished in London from 1748 to 1773. He was most likely born ca. 1724. As a young man he was apprenticed to John Blunbell of the Stationers Company, and then to John Pine. He was made free of the Company in 1748. Gibson proved a talented geographer and engraver who produced numerous maps, especially for books and magazines. He worked in collaboration with other map sellers such as Emanuel Bowen and John Roque. His best-known work was the pocket atlas, The Atlas Minimus (1758). Although little is known about his life beyond his publications, he was imprisoned for debt in King’s Bench from May to June of 1765.
