A map of the continent of Africa at the cusp of internal exploration published in Thomas Bankes’ ‘New, Royal, and Authentic System of Universal Geography’, from 1780. It is engraved by Thomas Bowen (1733?-90), mapmaker and print seller, son of Emanuel Bowen. He was apprenticed to his father in 1748 and entered into partnership with Richard Reynolds in 1761 when they were prisoners in the King’s Bench, required to make a schedule of their estate and effects as insolvent debtors. He produced numerous maps and atlases. He died in 1790 in reduced circumstances. This is the third state with the addition of “96H” at bottom left and “20G” at bottom right. Provenance acquired 1987 for a private English collection. References: McCorkle (2009) no. 11-7; Tooley (1969) p. 33.