One of the earliest obtainable English maps of the colonies. Beginning in the 1670s, the English fortunes in North America took a dramatic turn upward, resulting in a booming interest in the British American Colonies and, in turn, the issuance of maps to satisfy this interest. This map appeared in Modern's rare Atlas Terestris, published as early as 1687. While the Morden maps used in the Atlas Terestris were also issued in Morden's Geography Rectified a few years earlier, this is the first appearance of many of the American maps, which are either newly issued or revised for the atlas edition. This map is perhaps the earliest of all maps to focus solely on the Chesapeake, as earlier maps by Thorton & Greene and Christopher Browne cover substantially broader regions. The map extends from Cape Henry to Cape May and Delaware Bay and Baltimore, extending inland to Stafford County, Kent County and Henrico County. Patomack Falls and Turky Buzhard are noted. 25 counties are shown in all. This edition is dramatically improved from the first edition of Morden's map, issued in 1680, with many new place names appearing and substantial improvments throughout the map. An essential map of collectors of this region.
Robert Morden (d. 1703) was a British map and globe maker. Little is known about his early life, although he was most likely apprenticed to Joseph Moxon. By 1671, Morden was working from the sign of the Atlas on Cornhill, the same address out of which Moxon had previously worked. Most famous for his English county maps, his geography texts, and his wall maps, Morden entered into many partnerships during his career, usually to finance larger publishing projects.