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Description

Rare large format antique engraved map of Pennsylvania engraved by Daniel Friedrich Sotzmann for Christopher Ebeling's Erdbeschreibung von Amerika.

Sotzmann's map pf Pennsylvania is largely based on Reading Howell's 1792 wall map of the state. Sotzmann provides an extensive key, which differentiates between forges and furnaces, grist mills and saw mills, roads and Indian paths, etc.

The map is a testimony to Christopher Ebeling's remarkable research and compilation skills, having corresponded with many important Americans who provided source material for his work. 

Ebeling was a German scholar who undertook an exhaustive study of America. After studying the work of a number of engravers, he selected Sotzmann to engrave a set of maps of the states of the United States. Unfortunately, due to an extended illness, Ebeling did not finish the project and only 10 of the maps were published. However, his Atlas of America has become the most celebrated of works. Walter Ristow states that only a handful of North American institutions have examples of all ten maps, making the series among the rarest cartographic Americana for the closing decade of the 18th Century.

A very good example of this rare and highly sought-after and foundational map for Pennsylvania collectors.

Condition Description
Original hand-color retouched.
Reference
Ristow, American Maps and Mapmakers, chapter 11.