HERMAN MOLL (German/English, d.1732)
A New and Exact Map of the Dominions of the King
of GREAT BRITAIN ...
London, ca.1730
Engraving, hand-colored, 101.0 x 61.2 cm
Smith Collection
"The vagueness of early European conceptions of the interior of North America are demonstrated by Moll's map of the English colonies, originally published in 1715 (although the remarkable image of the beavers was copied from a French map of 1698). Once away from the coasts and the St. Lawrence, the interior of North America is shown as a vague jumble of rivers, lakes, and forests. It is a land of mystery and plenty, where beavers work industriously to build dams. Yet the beavers suggest the land's potential for being improved, and for its plenty being increased, by human hands. "
From: University of Southern Maine