Earl Percy's Use of the Map of New England During the American Revolution

How did British officers know the landscape of New England at the start of the revolution, whether strategically, tactically, or logistically? Matthew Edney, Osher Professor in the History of Cartography at the University of Southern Maine considers the evidence provided by the annotations made on Earl Percy's personal copy of the standard map of New England, together with the variety of maps available in the period, to outline the distinct kinds of geographical knowledge possessed by the British military in Boston in 1774-1775. This program is part of a series related to the Museum and Library’s collection of historic maps, and is presented in conjunction with the exhibition Journeys and Discoveries: The Stories Maps Tell. It is free thanks to the generous sponsorship of the Ruby W. and LaVon P. Linn Foundation.