Rare large format map by Sotzmann prepared for Christopher Ebeling's Erdbeschreibung von Amerika.
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. The state maps that were completed were among the best available at the time in terms of scale and level of detail. The Rhode Island map provides excellent local detail, including land holdings of several individuals. Shows meeting houses, shipyards, soundings, ponds, and a host of other details.
An essential map for Rhode Island and New England collectors. Only the second example we have seen in the past 10 years.