John Gibson; c1725 -1792.
Little is known about this prolific engraver.
Gibson won his fame for his cartographic output for the "Gentlemen's
Magazine" (one of the regular publications of Paternoster
Row, such as the "London Magazine", the "Royal Magazine",
the "Universal Magazine", the "Intelligencer", etc.). The
magazines were the prime source of information for the Londoners,
anxious to better understand the prosecution of wars, and
the land conquests in the far reaches of the Empire. Hence
a host of cartographers were kept busy by the reporting of
the latest developments: Thomas Kitchin, Emmanuel Bowen, John
Hinton, Thomas Jefferys, John Gibson, John Lodge.
Most of Gibson's work was directly derived from earlier maps
produced by geographers of good standing.
Of note, the 1758 Atlas Minimus, a collaborative effort with
Emmanuel Bowen, edited till 1774.
A map of the new governments, of East & West Florida.
This ever scarcer small map (9 7/8" X 7 1/2")
was printed in the November 1763 issue of the "Gentlemen's
Magazine". Also issued by Kitchen in 1763 and republished
by Bellin in 1768.
This map was based on a Spanish manuscript map, as indicated
by the Spanish coastal names. The colony of Florida was transferred
to England in 1763 by the first Treaty of Paris which ended
the Seven Years' War (the French and Indian War).
The depiction of the Florida peninsula as mostly islands was
probably based on the Indian claims to the Franciscan monks
that they could paddle their canoes from one coast to the
other. This might have been true in southern Florida, south
of Lake Okeechobee labeled "Laguna del Espiritu Santo" because
the water level in the Everglades was perhaps as 6-8 feet
higher than it is now.
The inset (based on a Bellin's work) depicts quite reliably the settlement of Pensacola
which became the capital city of West Florida (while St Augustine
was the capital of East Florida).
No text on verso.
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