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Description

A World Map Immediately Following The Discovery of Hawaii

Finely executed map of the World, focusing on the recent discoveries of Captain James Cook in his 3 Voyages of exploration which spanned the preceding decades.

This map presents an interesting view of the world in 1783 with emphasis on British interests and discoveries. 

The United States is plainly labeled "British Colonies."   The remainder of North America lacks boundaries, although the areas of New Albion, New Mexico, Louisiana, and Canada are named.

Port Sir Francis Drake appears, pre-dating Spain's announcement of the discovery of San Francisco Bay in 1769.

The islands of the Pacific Ocean receive special attention, highlighting the discoveries of Captain Cook, with O-Why-Hee featured within the Sandwich Islands, although curiously the Island of Mendana and the islands to the west (Monges, Ulua, Desgraciada, etc., likely a remnant from Spanish discoveries by Mendana in the region in the 16th and early 17th Century) are still shown, although the existence of these islands was dubious at best.

Australia (New Holland) is almost fully delineated, except Tasmania (Van Diemens Land) is shown attached to the mainland.

Asiatic Russian is made up of the Government of Siberia and the Government of Irkutsk. Cook’s Str. separates Asia and North America.  

Thomas Kitchin Biography

Thomas Kitchin was a British cartographer and engraver. Born in Southwark, England, Kitchin was the eldest of several children. He was apprenticed to the map engraver Emanuel Bowen from 1732 to 1739, and he married Bowen’s daughter, Sarah, in December 1739. By 1741 Kitchin was working independently and in 1746 he began taking on apprentices at his firm. His son Thomas Bowen Kitchin was apprenticed to him starting in 1754. By 1755 Kitchin was established in Holborn Hill, where his firm produced all kinds of engraved materials, including portraits and caricatures. He married his second wife, Jane, in 1762. Beginning in 1773 Kitchin was referred to as Hydrographer to the King, a position his son also later held. He retired to St. Albans and continued making maps until the end of his life.

A prolific engraver known for his technical facility, clean lettering, and impressive etched decorations, Kitchin produced several important works throughout his career. He produced John Elphinstone’s map of Scotland in 1746, and the first pocket atlas of Scotland, Geographia Scotiae, in 1748/1749. He co-published The Small English Atlas in 1749 with another of Bowen’s apprentices, Thomas Jefferys. He produced The Large English Atlas serially with Emanuel Bowen from 1749 to 1760. The latter was the most important county atlas since the Elizabethan era, and the first real attempt to cover the whole country at a large scale. In 1755 Kitchin engraved the important John Mitchell map of North America, which was used at the peace treaties of Paris and Versailles. In 1770 he produced the twelve-sheet road map England and Wales and in 1769–70 he produced Bernhard Ratzer’s plans of New York. In 1783, he published The Traveller’s Guide through England and Wales.