Il Paese de Selvaggi Outagamiani, Mascoutensi, Illinese, e Parte delle vi Nazioni

America’s western frontiers around the Revolutionary War.

This beautiful copperplate engraved map covers a large territory in today’s Upper Midwest between Lake Michigan and the falls of the Mississippi River at St. Anthony (modern-day Minneapolis). It presents a wealth of information, real and imaginary, about the largely unexplored region during the final quarter of the 18th century.

Numerous Native American tribes and settlements are named throughout (in Italian); including those belonging to the Kickapoo, Miami, Mascouten, and Sauk tribes. The Iroquois, or Six Nations, are also prominently featured, and the extent of their lands ceded to Great Britain are noted running through Lake Michigan and the Iroquois River. Forts, missions, and other contemporary landmarks are also labeled. Of particular interest is the river and portage at Chicagou near the site of the future Windy City. Speculative rivers and lakes are shown with some degree of certainty and topography is depicted pictorially, including a gigantic mythical plateau in Michigan.

The image was somewhat outdated by the time of publication, as it’s based heavily on John Mitchell’s map of North America, originally published in 1755.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: David Rumsey Map Collection; Sellers and Van Ee #163;