Current Exhibition:

The Triumph of the Passenger Ship: Highlights from the Norman H. Morse Ocean Liner Collection, 1870-2010
May 15, 2012 - August 23, 2012

The Triumph of the Passenger Ship presents the experience of life aboard these grand vessels through a selection of the Morse Collection of ocean liner ephemera. Norman H. Morse assembled his collection of almost 3,000 pieces over eight decades, and gave it to the Osher Map Library and Smith Center for Cartographic Education in 2009.

(continued)

A Map of New England, being the first that ever was here cut.

(click on image to view in greater detail)

John Foster English, 1648-1681 A Map of New England, being the first that ever was here cut. Woodcut, 30 x 38cm From: William Hubbard, A Narrative of the Troubles with the Indians In New-England (Boston, 1677) Osher Collection

A Map of New England, being the first that ever was here cut.

As the title indicates, this is the first map to be printed in America. It was probably designed by William Hubbard to illustrate his account of King Philip's War (1675-76), and was printed in 1677 from a woodcut by John Foster, America's first printmaker. The map has a rather primitive appearance and is acknowledged by its maker to be "less exact." It is oriented with North to the right, and vertical lines mark the northern and southern boundaries of the Massachusetts Bay Colony as set forth in the 1629 charter. Rhode Island is depicted as a small island near the base of Cape Cod (lower left). Martha's Vineyard is labeled "Martins Vineyard." The large river across the top is the Connecticut, while the river in the center is the Merrimack, arising from a large, island-studded lake (Winnepesaukee). To the right (north) of the latter are "The White Hills" of New Hampshire, later rendered as "The Wine Hills" on a second edition of the map engraved and published in London. The locations of Indian raids and massacres are indicated by numbers keyed to a table in the text. The following occurred in present-day Maine (lower right): No. 42, Kittery; No. 47, York; No. 50, Saco River; No. 51, Wells; No. 54, Scarborough; No. 55, Falmouth (now Portland).