Central Library, Copley Square (Norman B. Leventhal Map Center)
May 1 to November 3, 2013

The period following the French and Indian War (1754-1763) was a time of change and discovery in Atlantic Canada.  In back-to-back exhibitions featuring charts, views, and maritime objects, the Map Center will look at the decade following the war, when Britain set out to accurately chart the coast and survey the inland areas of their new resource-rich North American Empire.  The resulting charts were published collectively by Joseph Frederick Wallet Des Barres (1722-1824) in The Atlantic Neptune, a maritime atlas which set the standard for nautical charting for nearly half a century. This two-part exhibition will examine the importance of accurate charting of the new empire, define how Britain put her mark on the land, and explore the complex processes of marine surveying and nautical chart production.

Part I: Atlantic Canada (May 1 to July 28, 2013)

Part II:  Eastern Seaboard of the United States (August 1 to November 3, 2013)