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Rare first edition of Esnaut & Rapilly's map illustrating the Theater of War in the American Colonies between the British, French and American Forces and includes a large vignette featuring Cornwallis surrendering his sword to Washington in October 1781.
The map provides an excellent look at the region in conflict during the American Revolution, from the Chesapeake and Delware Bays to Florida and extending west to Texas and the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. Perhaps most notable within the map is the extensive road network illustrated. The map extends to include the Gulf of Mexico, the Bahamas and western Cuba. Mountain ranges appear in Floride Orientale, which is noted to be under British control. Floride Occidentale is shown to be a Spanish possession and incorporates the region of present-day Mississippi and Alabama. The explanation at lower right discusses both the capture of Pensacola by the Spanish in 1781 and the surrender of Cornwallis.
The map is extremely rare, with only one other example of the 1782 edition of the map offered on the market in the past 20 years.
Louis Brion de la Tour (ca. 1743-1803) was a French geographer and demographer. Little is known about Louis’ early life, but some glimpses of his professional life survive. He did achieve the title of Ingénieur Géographe du Roi. Much of his work was done in partnership with Louis Charles Desnos, who was bookseller and geographical engineer for globes to the Danish Crown. He worked on the Indicateur fidèle ou guide des voyageurs, qui enseigne toutes les routes royales between 1762 and 1785. During his career he also worked on several atlases. By 1795, he had gained a pension from the National Assembly. Perhaps this pension was granted in part because his son, also Louis Brion de la Tour (1763-1823), was an engraver who made Revolutionary prints, as well as maps.
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