This lot consists of the first two sheets of Henry Popple's great 20-sheet map of America, covering the region between the Great Lakes and Hudson Bay. The first sheet includes the large inset view of Niagara Falls and the plan of Mexico City. The northern end of Lake Superior is shown, as well as the supposed source of the Mississippi River: "The Heads of ye Missisipi in about the Fiftieth degree of Northern Latitude and in a very Boggy Country." The second sheet spans from James Bay and the Michipocten Bay in the west to Lake Mistasin (Lake Mistassini) in Quebec. The first three Hudson's Bay Company posts in North America, Fort Rupert, Fort Saint Louis (Moose Factory), and Fort Saint Anne (Fort Albany), are identified around James Bay. Charlton Island and part of Akimiski Island (named White Bear I., likely for its polar bears) are located in James Bay. A Habitation Europeane is noted near Lake Mistassini. Both sheets are filled with nice topographical detail.

Popple based his map on firsthand information gathered over several years at the Board of Trade and Plantations. He made use of both English and French maps as sources, including Delisle and De Fer. The map was the first large-scale British map to provide an overall view of the eastern half of North America. As tensions grew between the colonial powers, the map became immensely influential throughout Europe and was copied by several cartographers.

References: Pritchard & Taliaferro #24.

Condition: B+

Both sheets have very fine, dark impressions on sheets with a Strasbourg Lily watermark, faint offsetting, and tiny chips and tears along the edges of the sheet. Centerfold separations at the top and bottom of each sheet have been professionally repaired.