Bonhams 1793 : COLONIAL MASSACHUSETTS An untitled map of the river and lake system from Penobscot and Passamaquoddy bays in the south and east, to the Chaudiere River (partly still unsurveyed), the St. Lawrence and Quebec in the north-west, MANUSCRIPT MAP ON VELLUM

An untitled map of the river and lake system from Penobscot and Passamaquoddy bays in the south and east, to the Chaudiere River (partly still unsurveyed), the St. Lawrence and Quebec in the north-west, MANUSCRIPT MAP ON VELLUM, in black ink with lakes and rivers in green and partly over a pencilled grid, some slight discoloration affecting blank areas, natural flaws in the skin sewn, laid on board together with an old label "Map of Sir Francis Bernard's American Estate & the Adjoining Country" tipped on, 1760s

Sold for £84,000 inc. premium

Footnotes

A well executed map by a professional cartographer, and with good native American toponomy for small lakes (ponds), mountains and tributaries. The largest inland feature is Moose[head] Lake, surrounded by rivers and lakes with challenging transliterations, nearer the coast Fort Pownall (see adjacent lot)and Mt. Desert Island.

Provenance: by direct descent from Sir Francis Bernard, last governor of Massachusetts, who held something around 30,000 acres in the Penobscot Bay area, much of it now part of the Arcadia National Park.