Our Antique New England Maps Collection perfectly re-creates a remarkable set of beautifully colored maps published between 1690 and 1777. Together, they tell the story of discovery, exploration and revolution – and of maps as a medium of ‘political spin’.

Although the English presence in the American Northeast was dominant by 1690, the Dutch dominated mapmaking and publishing during the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. Consequently, the “news” reported by the most popular maps of the day suggested a misleading and powerful presence by the Dutch.

Danckers’ 1690 publication of the 1635 Blaeu map boldly titles Nova Belgica to literally overwhelm the indication of “Nova Anglia”. Even with its picture postcard-like view of the bucolic village of New Amsterdam, the map was unsuccessful as a recruiting poster intended to lure Dutch immigrants to populate Manhattan and the New World after the first settlements in 1623 and 1625.

Homann's 1716 reissue of the 1689 Visscher map identifies Indian nations from the coastline to the Great Lakes. Nova Anglia reflects the competing political claims to the region with its mix of languages including English, Dutch, Latin and French. An elaborate cartouche depicts an American Indian in exotic attire and a colonist holding a pelt, fur being a primary reason for European interest in the territory.

By 1774, New England was indisputably English -- and on the verge of being American. Thomas Jeffery's extraordinary A Map of the Most Inhabited Part of New England was the highly detailed guide for British military operations in the region. Likewise, the extraordinary detailing in Sayer and Bennett's 1776 Chart of the Harbour of Boston and Blaskowitz's 1777 Topographical Chart of the Bay of Naraganasett was the basis for the Royal Navy's operations in and around these two strategic ports.

A century later, tourism has already begun. Take a long, relaxed 1881 Bird's Eye View of the Town of Nantucket , a charmingly detailed large-scale image.

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