1839 James Wyld Large Antique Map Provinces of Lower Canada, St Lawrence River

Cartographer :James Wyld

  • Title : A New Map of the Province of Lower Canada, Describing all the Seigneuries, Townships, Grants of Land, &c. Compiled from Plans deposited in the Patent Office Quebec: by Samuel Holland, Esq. Surveyor General
  • Ref #:  50391
  • Size: 35 1/4in x 23 1/4in (895mm x 590mm)
  • Date : 1839
  • Condition: (B) Good Condition

Description: 
This large, rare hand coloured original antique map of the provinces of Lower Canada and The St Lawrence River was engraved in 1839 - dated in title - and was published by James Wyld, Charing Cross, London. 
This map has undergone some repairs and is priced accordingly. Currently this map is priced as high as $1500.

Background:
This boldly engraved map extends westward to include Lake St. Francis and the extreme tip of Upper Canada, eastward to part of New Brunswick showing the River St. John and beyond, and south to just below the Canadian border with New York and Vermont. It is filled with towns and settlements and individual named townships, roads and trails. It includes several interesting notations and delineates the "Boundary awarded to the King of Holland." Samuel Holland was originally a Dutch surveyor who fought on the side of the British during the French and Indian Wars and served as Surveyor General for the Province of Quebec and the Northern District of America. An infrequently seen issue. 

This updated example of this important map of the Lower Province of Canada, first issued by Faden in 1813, which identifies in manuscript the location of the disputed lands southeast of the St. Lawrence River,  the so-called "English Line" and "American Line," which would be the subject of an early boundary dispute between the two countries.
The original Faden map included information concerning over 100 land grants on either side of the St. Lawrence River, including the names of Land Owners. Faden's orginal map showed the surveys conducted in 1796-98 along the Scoudiac and Magaguadavic Rivers, in order to ascertain the true location of the St. Croix River.  In the present map, there is significant new information and topographcal details, showing the remarkable advancement in the surveying of the region in the 12 years after the publication of Faden's map of 1813.
This new addition includes the District of Maine, Moosehad Lake, Penobscot River and the Bowding County Township and Bingham's Purchase.  Whereas the original Faden map had no topographical detail, the present map is a dramatic improvement.
In addition to the topographical improvements, there is now an annotation in the centre of the map identifying the boundary dispute in the region, relating to the existence of two St. Croix Rivers in the region.
The second article of the Treaty of Peace between the US and Britain included  the setting of the boundary between the two nations, "From the northwest angle of Nova Scotia, viz., that angle which is formed by a line drawn due north from the source of St. Croix River to the highlands . . ."  It later became apparent that there was more than one St. Croix River.   A further treaty provision in 1794 appointed a boundary commission, which determined in 1798 that the intended St. Croix was the Schoodiac River and its northern branch Cheputnaticook. The Treaty of Ghent, concluded on December 24, 1814, agreed to provide for a final adjustment of the boundaries described in the Treaty of 1783 that had not yet been determined, which included the boundary line from the source of the River St. Croix to the most north-western point of the Lake of the Woods. 
A further commission was appointed to settle the boundary from the St. Croix to the St. Lawrence.   Joseph Bouchette and John Lawrence were hired to conduct the surveys and the reports submitted for resolution to a third nation and ultimately resolved by the Webster-Ashburton Treaty of 1842. 
The present map shows the two boundary claims at a time when they were not yet fully resolved. (Ref: M&B; Tooley; Clancy)

General Description:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color: - white
Age of map color: - Original
Colors used: - Yellow, green, blue, red
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 35 1/4in x 23 1/4in (895mm x 590mm)
Plate size: - 35 1/4in x 23 1/4in (895mm x 590mm)
Margins: - min. 1/4in (5mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - Light soiling, repair to bottom right margin , border into image
Plate area: Light soiling, creasing along left fold
Verso: - Light soiling, repairs as noted

$350.00