The Osher Map Library is pleased to make available to the people of the State of Maine a map of New England owned and used by Hugh, earl Percy, one of the more able of the British generals during the American Revolutionary War. Lord Percy -- who is renowned for preventing the complete defeat of the British at the hands of the Minutemen at Lexington -- used maps for a variety of military purposes; this map has many roads added on in ink throughout southern New England and most likely served as a strategic planning document. We also include a listing of resources on military mapping, available at the Osher Map Library.

The map itself is a copy of John Green's Map of the Most Inhabited Part of New England, published in London by Thomas Jefferys. First published in 1755, the map then represented the English claim to the region in the face of opposing territorial claims by the French. Of particular importance in this respect is the coincidence of the highly expressive title cartouche with the map's depiction of New England as a coherent region defined by the common territorial and political unit of the township. Green was actually indebted for his vision of the region to the pioneering cartography of William Douglass. Douglass's map formed the unacknowledged core element in Green's construction of his map.

Discussion of these topics is supported by an annotated bibliography, a cartobibliography of the relevant maps, extensive quotations from William Douglass's writings, and many illustrations of original maps.

When you have finished reading this web site, please take some time to acknowledge the creators and contributors to this web site and to send comments and suggestions to the staff of the Osher Map Library. You can also follow links to the Osher Map Library's other web sites.