Sign In

Fine old color example of William Faden's map of the United States.

Scarce early map of the United States by William Faden, published in London in 1785.

A nice old color example of State 4 of Faden's map of the United States, one of the first and finest English maps to display the boundaries of the newly recognized United States. Faden published the map (originally titled The British Colonies in North America) in 1777 during the Revolutionary War, and regularly revised and updated it as new information became available. This is the fourth state of the map and the third to include the name "United States."

Faden's sequence of maps of the United States represents one of the most important cartographic depictions of the newly independent republic. The Faden sequence is perhaps the most comprehensive series of maps to illustrate the political development of the United States, with each variant state showing a distinct stage in America's process of transformative change. The present map depicts the United States with its new boundaries as determined at the end of the Revolutionary War, as ratified at the Treaty of Paris, signed on September 3rd, 1783. The map is beautifully colored to identify American, British, Spanish territories, and the coasts of Newfoundland, rich in cod then, to which the French were granted fishing rights.

The following are some noteworthy changes in this state of the map:

• The addition of Vermont
• The removal of "Province of Quebec" from the region extending to the Ohio River
• Lake Erie and Lake Ontario are substantially revised
• The geography below Lake Erie is updated
• The Twenty Leagues Line has been added off the coast of the United States, defining its territorial waters
• The dispute regarding the location of the St. Croix River is described in the text
• The Maine-Canada border is significantly revised

The map includes open western borders for every state from Georgia to Pennsylvania, except South Carolina, referencing the original colonial claims for Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia, all of which were to run to the Pacific Ocean. The boundaries between New York, the Iroquois Nation and Pennsylvania, are non-existent. Vermont is shown as a state for the first time. New Hampshire is shown.

The map covers an area from Newfoundland and James Bay to the southern tip of Texas, here labeled "Cenis" for the Indian tribe that occupied the eastern region. The United States is rendered in solid yellow, while other political entities are indicated by colored outline. Faden distinguishes between the British territories of today's Canada and the Bahamas and the Spanish territories of Louisiana and Florida.

Beginning in Louisiana Territory, Arkansas is named, but no reference to New Iberia or the Fair Nation, which appear in later editions. Many Indian tribal names appear and a large stretch of land north of the Missouri River is identified as "Extensive Meadows full of Buffaloe."

This map pre-dates Faden's depictions of the various company lands given to Soldiers and proprietors shortly after the conclusion of the War, which later exist in the west, including New Jersey Company, Wabash Company, the Army Lands, the Lands reserved for the Carolina Troops, Colonel Simms, Donation Lands, Seven Ranges, Virginia Troops, etc.

Georgia runs to the Mississippi, with lots of Indian tribes and East and West Florida shown. One early road appears in Texas.

The map went through a number of variant states, many of which are quite interesting. Ashley Baynton Williams identifies 8 states of the map.

The 1st state of the map is entitled The British Colonies in North America and was published in 1777.

The 2nd state of the map shows 2 different Rivers named "St Croix" flowing into the Bay of Fundy.

The 3rd state of the map adds an annotation below the color key stating that the source of the River St. Croix has not been truly ascertained and only 1 of the 2 rivers is now named St. Croix.

The 4th state adds the words "of 1784" after "according to the Treaty," and is dated 1785.

The 5th state is dated 1793 and the title is revised to read ". . . British Territories, and Those of Spain . . ."

The 6th edition adds a notation to the color key that all lands not settled by Europeans "should belong by right to the Aborigines." The 6th state is also the first to name the "Tannesse Government" and to show the new national capital, "Washington or / the Federal City." The map is also one of the few maps to record the short-lived state of "Franklinia." Franklinia was formed by settlers in 1784, but it was never recognized by Congress. Eventually it was annexed by North Carolina and later reverted back to Tennessee.

The 7th edition of the map is now dated 1796.

The 8th edition of the map is dated 1809 and the title is shortened, removing the words "according to the Treaty, of 1784."