A Topographical Description of Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and North Carolina Containing a succinct account of its soil, climate, natural history, population, agriculture, manners, and customs : with an ample description of the several divisions into which that country is partitioned 1904 reprint edition, edited By Frederick Charles Hicks (original 1778 edition by Thomas Hutchins) 143 pages, illustrated with maps, indexed, searchable - Bonus Book - Also includes scanned pages of the 1787 edition. Requires Adobe Reader 7.0 or higher to View $9.99 + $1.99 shipping and handling http://cgi.ebay.com/Virginia-Topographic-Description-Thomas-Hutchins-1787_W0QQitemZ130378415736QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item1e5b28be78 This reprint of a rare and valuable book will be welcomed by all students of the formative period of the United States and the work of the only man who filled the office of civil "geographer of the United States " should be of interest to every student of geography. Mr Hicks supplements the reprint by valuable notes, and contributes an excellent biographical sketch of Hutchins with a list of his works. He was not merely an American by birth, but in his sympathies and activities, resigning his commission in the British army to serve his country during the Revolutionary War. To Hutchins is probably due the system of land platting used by our General Laud Office. He also exercised a potent influence on colonization through his extensive travels, road surveys, and land tracts. During his services as geographer, as one of the commissioners to run the boundary line between Pennsylvania and Virginia, and also between New York and Massachusetts, and in establishing the system of surveying public lands, Hutchins displayed conspicuous scientific ability. Prof. Hicks says that '' his geographical works formed the basis for the famous American geography of Jedidah Morse," and adds that " as a pioneer, soldier, patriot, surveyor, literateur. and scientist, we find him to have been ... a man who justly is entitled to a place among the great American civilizers." Thomas Hutchins was an American surveyor, mapmaker and the first "geographer of the United States." Hutchins was born in the colony of New Jersey in 1730. Prior to the American Revolution, Hutchins served in the British army and participated in the French and Indian War. During the Revolution, Hutchins served in the British Army. In 1779, the British government charged him with treason, prompting Hutchins to resign his commission in 1780. On July 11, 1781, Congress appointed him as "geographer of the United States." After the American Revolution, Hutchins continued as a geographer, surveying and making maps of the western frontier. Hutchins was given the job of plotting the land set aside for the Northwest Territory as a result of the Land Ordinance of 1785. He and his men laid out four of the Seven Ranges, which organized early settlement of the territory. Hutchins died of illness on April 18, 1789, before he could complete the survey of the final ranges. Hutchins had previously visited and mapped portions of what is now Ohio, when he participated in Bouquet's Expedition in 1764. Hutchins's survey work in the Northwest Territory illustrates the difficult conditions that existed in Ohio in the years following the American Revolution. The geographer's first expedition to the region was cut short by the threat of Indian attacks, and the second expedition only began its work once it received military protection. In particular, the Shawnee Indians posed a serious danger, as they were upset about white encroachment on their lands. The Wyandot Indians and Delaware Indians also refused to guarantee Hutchins's safety.