A GENERAL MAP OF THE MIDDLE BRITISH COLONIES IN AMERICA, 1755.

By Lewis Evans.

This reproduction is taken from an original document held within the Archives of the UK Hydrographic Office, Taunton, Somerset.

Lewis Evans was born in Wales and emigrated to Pennsylvania in 1736. He worked as a surveyor and draughtsman in Philadelphia, where he became associated with prominent and farsighted individuals who were interested in various aspects of natural history, exploration and publishing. He accompanied the botanist John Bartram, on a wilderness trip in 1743.Evans realised the importance of French exploration and settlement of the Ohio River, Great Lakes and other western lands, bringing them to public notice by a series of maps published in 1749 and 1755. Evans died in Philadelphia in 1756.Evans' General Map of the Middle British Colonies was initially published in 1755. Authorised editions were published in 1760, and to accompany Pownall's `A Topographical Description of....North America. The importance of this map was recognised by many private publishers, who pirated editions of it as late as 1816.