A Plan of the City, and Fortifications, of Louisburg, from a Survey made by Richard Gridley / A Plan of the City and Harbour of Louisburg.

Important and very rare map describing the first siege of Louisbourg in 1745 - Very rare first state of the Gridley/Jefferys plan of the 1745 Siege of Louisbourg.Large French and English War map covering the vicinity of Louisbourg with batteries, light house, military quarters, etc. Louisburg on Cape Breton Island was the principal French stronghold in North America. This print shows the city and its great fortifications after the successful English attack in 1758.
The map has a large inset at left: "A Plan of the City and Fortifications of Louisburg ..." and a smaller inset of Gabarus Bay.
Two Elaborate title cartouches, compass roses, with an inset map of Gabarus Bay.
The great fortress of Louisburg, built (1720-40) by France as its Gibraltar in America. Plans were drawn by the great French engineer Vauban, but the work was poorly done, and the garrison was inadequately supplied and at odds with the civilian population.
The print is showing the Siege of Louisbourg, which took place in 1745 when a New England Colonial force aided by a British fleet captured Louisbourg on the island of Ile-Royale (now called Cape Breton Island) from its French defenders during the War of the Austrian Succession, known as King George's War in the British colonies.

RARE : Published by Thomas Jefferys in 1757.

The first issue of this map is quite rare. We only could locate few copy of this 1757 first state in libraries and one dealer listing. There is a second state of the map dated 1758, published by Jefferys within (and in subsequent editions of) his Natural and Civil History of the French Dominions, and again in 1768 within his General Topography.

Reference: Phillips, A List of Maps of America, p. 364. Sellers and Van Ee, Maps and Charts of North America 337. Kershaw, Early Printed Maps of Canada, III:906. Stevens & Tree,