Printed for the London Magazine, this 18th c. map of the English Province of Pensilvania shows the Province when "The Northern Boundary of Pensilvania is not yet settled" and regions belonging to Native Americans are identified, such as the Delawares, Nanticokes and Tuteloes. English towns are located on the map indicated by a circle. The engraver's "Explanation" only has a symbol for Indian Towns, Roads and Trading Paths. Provincial boundaries are drawn with dotted lines.
The map has both a decorative cartouche and a vignette likely of the Delaware River showing a three-masted schooner and small sailboats , with views of coastal ridges in the backdrop. The north arrow is stylized with a circle and decorative arrow. Mountains are shown in relief graphically and named, such as the "Endless Mountains". On the road between Lancaster and Philadelphia there is a symbol near each town, not identified in the key. Perhaps this is a river crossing or a structure. From the mid-1700's this road was known as the "Great Wagon Road" by the mid-1700's Europeans arriving in increasing numbers who went to work changing what had been the Native American's "Warrior Path" into a road suitable for wagons. The growing population of immigrants arriving in Philadelphia used the Great Wagon Road as they moved west and south to settle land in other Provinces. In the north west corner of the map, a "Part of Lake Erie" is shown, and both a French fort and two portages are located.
This scarce 18th c. pre-American Revolution map of the Province of Pensilvania offers considerable details of the Province in its early development by European colonists in what was otherwise Native American territory.
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