A scarce map of the English colonies at the start of the Seven Years’ War

An uncommon map, engraved by Seale for 'A New and Complete History of the British Empire in America' (1756), a work issued in parts but never finished, accounting for its scarcity. It also marks the areas of the First Nation tribes north of Lake Ontario. Published as the Seven Years' War began, the map shows a red line, marked on another map in the series as 'The French claim all Northwest of this line'. This includes Upper New York State north of Port Nicolson (now Fort Edward) and the western third of Pennsylvania. At the end of the war the line formed the basis of the 'Proclamation Line of 1763', an attempt by the British government to establish a boundary between their colonies and the lands of the Native Americans to avoid further conflict. The colonists' opposition to this restraint was a major cause of the American Revolution.