A Map of Washington

Smithsonian magazine offers an online look at some of George Washington’s map collection, drawn from Barnet Schecter’s new coffee-table book, George Washington’s America: A Biography Through His Maps.

As a surveyor, large property-owner, speculator in western lands, military commander, and government leader, Washington was keenly aware of the value of maps. His own collection ended up in the Yale University library system (much as, I suppose, two of Benjamin Franklin’s maps came to the Boston Public Library).

The image at top is a detail from one of those maps, a London rendition of the siege of Boston. British warships have set fire to Charlestown with their artillery, and in the upper right locals are fleeing. The area looks somewhat different today.