This is the first edition of Imbert's important Revolutionary War map of the British North American colonies. As the title states, the map was prepared to aid the French in better understanding the theater of war, and was published shortly before France formally allied with the Americans against the British. The map extends just west of the Mississippi River and includes information on the river systems, mountains, towns, forts, and Native Indian tribes. The British colonies are highlighted along the eastern seaboard, from Florida extending north to include Acadia and Newfoundland. A large inset fills the Atlantic and shows the British possessions in southern Florida and Jamaica, with France in control of western Hispaniola and Spain in control of Cuba and eastern Hispaniola. The map is based on several French sources, including Jacques-Nicolas Bellin, Guillaume Delisle, and Jean-Baptiste Brion de La Tour.

The second edition of this map, published in 1783, credited J.B. Eliot instead of Imbert, with the title changed to Carte Generale des Etats Unis de L Amerique Septentrionale. The later edition was one of the first maps published after the provisional Treaty of Peace in 1782, and showed the proposed boundary of the United States.

References: Lowery #590; McCorkle #777.9; Sellers & Van Ee #153.

Condition: B+

Watermarked paper with light soiling and a couple of extraneous creases. There are professional repairs to a 2" tear east of New Jersey, a small hole east of Cape Hatteras, and a couple of minor chips and tears along the edges of the sheet.