[Catesby, Mark] — Johann Michael Seligmann. The only continental edition of one of the most important maps of the region

[CATESBY, MARK] — JOHANN MICHAEL SELIGMANN 

[SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA]. CAROLINAE FLORIDAE NEC NON INSULARUM BAHAMENSIUM CUM PARTIBUS ADJACENDIBUS DELINEATO AD EXEMPLAR LONDINENSE IN LUCEM EDITA A..., SELIGMANN. NUREMBERG: SELIGMANN, 1755

Copper-engraved map (sheet size: 20 1/4 x 27 in.; 514 x 686 mm). Full original color; expertly repaired tear and a number of small repaired tears to old folds. 

The first and only continental edition of one of the finest and most important maps of the region

The English edition of this map (first published in vol. II of Mark Catesby's Natural History of South Carolina, and the Bahama Islands, London, 1743) is now exceptionally difficult to obtain. Seligmann's Sammlung verschiedener auslaendischer und seltener Vögel was published in 9 parts between 1749 and 1776, and included a German translation of Catesby's work with re-engraved versions of his images, including the present map. Catesby's work was the first natural history of American flora and fauna. The Catesby scholar, G.F. Frick calls this map "a good representation of the better English ideas about the geography of North America" in the period.

It is not generally recognized that the English version of this map appeared in two states. On the first state of 1743, the territory on both sides of the Mississippi was colored green, to indicate that the entire region was in the hands of the French. A second state was included in the third edition of the Natural History in 1771, altered to show the political realignment brought about by the Treaty of Paris in 1763. The territory on the east bank of the Mississippi, which had been acquired by Britain, was now colored green; the territory to the West, which now belonged to Spain, was colored blue. The present German edition corresponds with the English first state. The map shows the Southeastern United States as far west as the Mississippi River, plus the nearby Caribbean islands of the Bahamas, Cuba, Jamaica, and Hispaniola.

REFERENCE:

Cumming, Southeast 210 & 292