A New and Accurate Map of Jamaica by Thomas Brown

Code: 53641

Date: 1801

Long title: A New and Accurate Map of Jamaica from the Latest Surveys. Eng Gavin and Son.  
Copper engraving with full wash original hand colouring, the different colours indicating the different boundaries.  Overall sheet size: 38.2cms x 30cms; image size: 342mm x 260mm.  Two insets of harbours Bluefields left and Kingston and Port Royal right. A highly detailed Jamaica map from Brown's General Atlas, with depth soundings and a distinctive cartouche. Two scales of distance: British Statute Miles and Sea Leagues. Note above Kingston says,’the Negro Towns are Distinguished by a line under the Name’.  ‘This map of Jamaica was published just over 20 years after the ending of slavery and almost ten years before the Morant Bay Rebellion (11 October 1865). At the time, the island was a British colony. Jamaica had been a Spanish possession until the English captured it in 1655. It was not long before sugar plantations were established on many parts of the island, with large numbers of enslaved African people brought in to work on them. As a result, Jamaica became Britain’s most valuable Caribbean colony by the early 1700s.

The map shows the physical geography of Jamaica, including its coastline and rivers, hills and mountains. The difficult terrain in some areas had served as bases for the Maroons. The map also shows the names of towns and villages, and how the island was divided up. At the time, Jamaica had three counties – Cornwall, Middlesex and Surrey – plus a number of parishes. The names of all of these had been ‘anglicised’ after Spanish rule was ended. For example, Jamaica’s capital was called Spanish Town under the British; it had been formerly known as St Jago de la Vega by the Spanish. In 1872 the capital was moved to Kingston, on Jamaica’s south coast’. British Library.  
Overall browning and one mark top margin and bottom left margin and a few handling marks else very good condition.

Thomas Brown 1764-1820 was an Edinburgh based bookseller, publisher, printseller, stationer and originally an engraver.  His maps are uncommon.