Connecticut and Rhode Island in 1758 - Hartford, New Haven, Providence

Thomas Kitchin engraved this map of the colonies of Connecticut and Rhode Island for publication in the London Magazine in 1758, and it stands as the first printed map to focus primarily on these two colonies, making it a vital document for local collectors. Kitchin trained under the map engraver Emanuel Bowen, whose daughter he married, and went on to build one of the most prolific engraving practices in eighteenth-century London, eventually earning the title Hydrographer to the King. He likely based this map on an earlier 1737 survey by Gardner and Kellock, possibly transmitted through William Douglass's mapping of British New England, but Kitchin's compact engraving actually communicates more road and topographical detail than either of those larger source maps managed on considerably bigger sheets.

Divided into counties and townships, the map records Connecticut and Rhode Island as they stood in the final years before the American Revolution reshaped the political landscape of British America. Hartford and New Haven, Connecticut's twin seats of government, anchor the colony's interior and coastal commerce respectively, while Providence and Newport, Rhode Island's two leading towns, sit along Narragansett Bay as centers of trade and shipbuilding. The map's unusually fine detail for its modest size reflects Kitchin's skill at compressing complex geographic information into a compact, highly legible engraving, a talent that made him one of the most sought-after cartographic engravers of his generation.

This map is a striking gift for a family with deep Connecticut or Rhode Island roots, for a transplant now settled in New England, or for a collector of scarce colonial-era maps. It is offered unframed in a range of sizes.