The noted antiquarian, James Phinney Baxter of Portland, Maine, commissioned copies of many historical maps located in Great Britain and Europe in the late 19th century. He later donated this collection of approximately ninety maps to the State of Maine. These copies now reside among the holdings of the Maine State Archives.
The term septentrion (and its various forms) refers to the northern regions. This term comes from the Latin meaning the “seven plow oxen” referring to the seven principal stars of Ursa Major (the Big Dipper), of which Polaris (the North star) is one. From that root it was generalized and used in cartography to signify the northerly direction. Descriptions courtesy of Leventhal Map Library http://www.leventhalmap.org/, Library of Congress https://www.loc.gov/maps/, http://raremaps.com, the Osher Map Library http://www.oshermaps.org/, and others.
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![BMC 41--New Ireland and Main[e], 1770 by Samuel Johannes Holland](https://digitalmaine.com/arc_baxter/1054/thumbnail.jpg "BMC 41--New Ireland and Main[e], 1770 by Samuel Johannes Holland")
![BMC 43--Tabula Terre Nove (Admiral’s Map), [Northwestern Portion], 1513 by Martin Waldseemüller](https://digitalmaine.com/arc_baxter/1056/thumbnail.jpg "BMC 43--Tabula Terre Nove (Admiral’s Map), [Northwestern Portion], 1513 by Martin Waldseemüller")
