A New Map of Jamaica, In which the Several Towns, Forts, and Settlements are accurately laid down...the Greatest part drawn or corrected from actual surveys made by Mr. Sheffield and others, from the year 1730 to the year 1749

Book Description

London: [At lower center:] "Published according to Act of Parliament 1755.". Copper-engraved wall map with inset: "A General Plan of Port Royal" by J. Bayly, on two joined sheets, with original outline colour, in very good condition. 29 x 54 1/4 inches. An unrecorded state of the "The first large-scale map of Jamaica" This large, dramatic map of Jamaica, the first large scale map of the island, corresponds to the new importance and interest the island had for the British due to the vast fortunes compiled in sugar and slaves. This map, which includes topographical details and some roads, shows the sites of many sugar plantations, most of which were located in the southeast near the harbors. Kapp notes two states, the first with the imprint of John and Carrington Bowles (1755), the second with that of Carrington Bowles and Robert Wilkinson (1790). This example has no imprint, but still bears the date 1755. It is probably an intermediate state between those listed by Kapp. Aside from the lack of imprint, this example is identical to Kapp's first state. The map is the most detailed and exact for Jamaica published to its time. It locates "Gentleman's Seats," sugar works, churches, taverns, "crawls," "ginger, coffee, and indigo settlements," barracks, etc. The large inset shows both the portion of Port Royal destroyed in the earthquake of 1692, and that part which was still standing. Twenty-four sites in the town are identified by key. Sellers & Van Ee, Maps & Charts of North America & West Indies, 1916; See Kit Kapp, "The Printed Maps of Jamaica up to 1825," (MCS 42), 71, plate 25 (first state.) Not in National Maritime Museum Catalogue.

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