Nice example of this rare map of the United States, one of the last maps to mark the state of "Franklinia", in eastern Tennessee.
In the lower right corner is a vignette view of Niagara Falls. Also shows Georgia extending to the Mississippi River, Western Territory, an odd early Ohio Territorial Configuration and numerous early western forts and Indian Tribes.
The most noteworthy feature of this map is the inclusion of "Franklinia" located between North Carolina and Tennessee, as noted below.
In the latter part of the 18th Century, the settlers in Western North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee decided that because of poor representation in State Government, they needed to form a state of their own. A government was formed and initial organizational meetings conducted, but the breakaway state was quickly quelled by the North Carolina authorities, although not before the State of Franklin or Franklinia began appearing on a number of English maps during the period. Ben Franklin himself responded that while he was honored by the decision to name a state after him, he was not able to relocate.
There are only a few examples of maps showing the State of Franklin or Franklinia, this being one of the rarest on the market.
John Thomson (1777-ca. 1840) was a commercial map publisher active in Edinburgh. He specialized in guide books and atlases and is primarily known for his Atlas of Scotland (1832) and the New General Atlas, first published in 1817 and reissued for the next quarter century. The New General Atlas was a commercial success—it was also published in Dublin and London—and it compiled existing geographic knowledge in compelling ways for a wide audience.
His Atlas of Scotland introduced new geographic information and was the first large-scale atlas of Scotland to be organized by county. It provided the most-accurate view of Scotland available before the Clearances. Work on the atlas began in 1820 and led to Thomson’s bankruptcy in 1830 due to the high costs of gathering the latest surveys and reviewing the required materials. Despite the publication of the atlas, Thomson declared bankruptcy again in 1835.