The image of "The Industry of the Beavers of Canada" was copied and
appropriated many times. The original was an engraved vignette by
Frenchman Nicolas Guerard included in Nicolas de Fer's 1698 map of
"L'Amerique," but it became more famous as part of a 1715 color map
of "Dominions of the King of Great Britain on the Continent of North
America," by British cartographer Herman Moll. Moll's "Beaver Map"
(as it is called) was revised ca. 1730; reproductions of it are
available from most shops and websites that deal in old maps.
The image can be found on several sites about cartography and
the New World:
University of Southern Maine
http://www.usm.maine.edu/~maps/exhibit2/sec5.htm
The Virtual Museum Canada, "Panoramas: The North American Landscape
in Art"
http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/Exhibitions/Landscapes/m-igmain-e.php3
Richard B. Arkway, Inc.
http://www.arkway.com/pdfs/Cat52.pdf
--K.A. Bayruns
Seattle, WA
At 03:29 PM 4/3/02 -0500, you wrote:
>Colleagues:
>
>I have a patron who trying to track down an image. Kind of a treasure hunt,
>but thought I'd query the collective wisdom here in case it rings a bell for
>anyone:
>
>Patron thinks the image is an engraving, probably 17th century, English or
>Dutch.
>The image is of beavers building a dam, with one beaver in sort of a
>supervisory role, like a construction foreman. He remembers reading that
>the image was made by someone who had read a new world explorer's written
>description of the animals, but had never actually seen a one. He remembers
>the logs used to build the dam as being identically sized and rounded, and
>neatly stacked.
>
>If this sounds familiar, please respond directly to me at
>[log in to unmask]
>
>Thanks,
>
>Ann Lindell
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