Il Paese de Cherachesi, con la Parte Occidentale della Carolina Settentrionale e della Virginia

Sheet VII of Zatta’s 12-sheet reproduction of Mitchell’s important map of the United States.

This fascinating map covers a large area between the confluences of the Ohio, Mississippi, and Missouri Rivers in the modern-day Midwestern states of Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Numerous Native American towns are shown throughout and the title refers to part of the region as the ‘Land of the Cherokee.’

Blocks of text (in Italian) describe diplomatic negotiations with various tribes, geographic features, and Thomas Walker’s settlement on the Cumberland River, established in 1750. Dr. Walker was a British physician and explorer who was one of the first Europeans to travel throughout the western extent of the Virginia colony. He identified and named the Cumberland Gap, though it doesn’t appear to be distinguishable amid the pictorial topography.

The image was somewhat outdated by the time of publication, as it’s based heavily on John Mitchell’s map of North America, originally published in 1755. The monumental 8-sheet production was one of the most important maps of America published during the 18th century and the foundation for numerous diplomatic negotiations including the Treaty of Paris in 1783.

This example is from the first Italian reproduction of Mitchell’s map, created by Antonio Zatta in Venice for his Atlante Novissimo around 1780. Some consider Zatta’s work (issued in 12 sheets) to be piracy, considering that Mitchell is not credited, but Rumsey argues that “Zatta’s version of Mitchell is not an exact or complete copy: the Zatta maps do not cover the far western portions of Mitchell’s map, many geographical changes are introduced, and Bermuda is depicted as well as Jamaica., neither of which are shown by Mitchell.”

Sources: Rumsey 5007.009; Sellers & Van Ee #163; Walker’s Settlement