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Description

A fine 18th-century map of Cap-Haïtien, the historical capital of Haiti.

Cap-Haïtien, then called Cap-Français (or Cap-Francois), was the capital of the French colony of Saint-Domingue (Haiti), from the time of its founding in 1711 until 1770. During this period, Saint-Domingue was one of the most economically productive places in the world, owing to it flourishing sugar industry.

As evident on the map, the city was laid out on a neat geometrical grid, following Enlightenment precepts. The town was, and is still dominated by the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Cap-Haïtien, the largest church in Haiti.

The present map was issued by Thomas Jefferys in London to capitalize of the great interest in French and Spanish ports owing to the ongoing Seven Years' War (1756-1763). Due to it's key role in the French colonial system, Cap-Haïtien was a prime proposed target for an attack by Britain's Royal Navy, although it was passed over in favor of more easily-conquerable French possessions, such as Martinique and Guadeloupe.

Condition Description
Minor soiling
Thomas Jefferys Biography

Thomas Jefferys (ca. 1719-1771) was a prolific map publisher, engraver, and cartographer based in London. His father was a cutler, but Jefferys was apprenticed to Emanuel Bowen, a prominent mapmaker and engraver. He was made free of the Merchant Taylors’ Company in 1744, although two earlier maps bearing his name have been identified. 

Jefferys had several collaborators and partners throughout his career. His first atlas, The Small English Atlas, was published with Thomas Kitchin in 1748-9. Later, he worked with Robert Sayer on A General Topography of North America (1768); Sayer also published posthumous collections with Jefferys' contributions including The American Atlas, The North-American Pilot, and The West-India Atlas

Jefferys was the Geographer to Frederick Prince of Wales and, from 1760, to King George III. Thanks especially to opportunities offered by the Seven Years' War, he is best known today for his maps of North America, and for his central place in the map trade—he not only sold maps commercially, but also imported the latest materials and had ties to several government bodies for whom he produced materials.

Upon his death in 1771, his workshop passed to his partner, William Faden, and his son, Thomas Jr. However, Jefferys had gone bankrupt in 1766 and some of his plates were bought by Robert Sayer (see above). Sayer, who had partnered in the past with Philip Overton (d. 1751), specialized in (re)publishing maps. In 1770, he partnered with John Bennett and many Jefferys maps were republished by the duo.