Map Depicting the "State of Franklin", "North & South America; for the Elucidation of the Abbe Gaultier's Geographical Games", Aspin, Jehoshaphat

Subject: Western Hemisphere - America, Franklin
Period: 1823 (dated)
Publication: A Complete Course Of Geography...
Color: Hand Color
Size: 13.6 x 16.8

This is a very unusual and interesting map of the Western Hemisphere with a large inset of the United States, engraved for the "Geographical Games." It presents an odd border between Mexico and the United States, and it also displays the British perspective for the boundary with Canada. The large inset shows the eastern United States extending to just beyond the Mississippi River and locates the proposed state of Franklinia. In 1785, settlers in western North Carolina and what would become eastern Tennessee organized a state government to be named in honor of Benjamin Franklin. Congress turned down their appeal but the state maintained a legislature and governor until 1788. This ephemeral state appears on only a small number of maps and this is a late appearance of this frontier political experiment. Engraved by Hewitt. This is the first state of the map.

References: Dotson & Baker (OWA) #31.1.
Condition: A
A nice impression on "J Whatman 1824" watermarked paper.