The Journal of Andrew Ellicott, late commissioner on behalf of the United States during part of the year 1796, the years 1797, 1798, 1799, and part of the year 1800: for determining the boundary between the United States and the Possessions of His Catholic Majesty in America, containing occasional remarks on the situation, soil, rivers, natural productions, and diseases of the different countries on the Ohio, Mississippi, and Gulf of Mexico, with six maps, Comprehending the Ohio, the Mississippi from the mouth of the Ohio to the Gulf of Mexico, the whole of West Florida, and part of East Florida. .

Ellicott, Andrew

Edité par Budd & Bartram for Thomas Hobson, Philadelphia, 1803

A propos de cet article

First edition. Philadelphia: Budd & Bartram for Thomas Hobson, 1803. Quarto (10" x 8 1/8", 255mm x 208mm). [Full collation available.] With 14 folding plates and maps. Bound in contemporary mottled sheep. Smooth spine gilt in six panels. Author and title gilt to red morocco in the second panel. Dashed blind roll to the edges of the boards. All edges of the text-block speckled brown. Rubbed. Bumped at the fore-corners. Rear hinge starting. Light tanning, spotting and foxing throughout. Plates and maps repaired with archival tissue at folds on verso with some foxing and tanning. Ink library stamp of City Library of New Bedford on the verso of the third map. Andrew Ellicott (1754-1820) was a land surveyor, born a Quaker in Pennsylvania, the son of a miller and clockmaker. As a youth, he studied mathematics, astronomy and the sciences. At the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, Ellicott enlisted in the Maryland militia, rising to position of Major. Upon returning home, he began his career as a surveyor working on the Mason-Dixon line. In 1785, he surveyed the western border of Pennsylvania and Ohio, where the northern meridian came to be known as the "Ellicott Line." Appointed by George Washington, he continued and completed the plan for Washington, DC, begun by Pierre Charles L'Enfant. He was assisted in this contentious project from 1791-2 by two of his brothers and a self-taught African American surveyor, Benjamin Banneke. Some of the boundary stones laid then stand today. Ellicott spent four years (1796-1800), surveying the Spanish territories along the coast of Florida, where he also established an "Ellicott Line." In 1798, President John Adams refused payment to Ellicott, who in turn became Secretary of the Pennsylvania Land Office, a more reliable, yet lower paying position. In 1803, President Jefferson appointed Ellicott as teacher and mentor to Merriweather Lewis, imparting his knowledge of surveying methods and materials. He also surveyed land won in the Louisiana Purchase. He spent his final years teaching math at West Point. Ellicott's Journal contains information about his activities, observations and correspondence while traveling as a surveyor between 1796 and 1800. It is the "first thorough American survey of the lower Mississippi and Gulf region" (Howes). He details the perilous diplomacy between the United States and Spain, describing people and landscapes he encountered along the way. The large appendix contains astronomical and thermometrical information. The New Bedford Free Public Library, founded in 1852, contains significant historical holdings, especially regarding whaling and Quaker materials. American Imprints 4147; Graff 1230; Howes E 94; Rader 1295; Sabin 22216; Servies 768.

N° de réf. du vendeur AMB0011

Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: The Journal of Andrew Ellicott, late commissioner on behalf of the United States during part of the year 1796, the years 1797, 1798, 1799, and part of the year 1800: for determining the boundary between the United States and the Possessions of His Catholic Majesty in America, containing occasional remarks on the situation, soil, rivers, natural productions, and diseases of the different countries on the Ohio, Mississippi, and Gulf of Mexico, with six maps, Comprehending the Ohio, the ...
• Éditeur: Budd & Bartram for Thomas Hobson, Philadelphia
• Date de parution: 1803
• Reliure: Hardcover
• Édition: First.
• État de l'article: Very good
• Catalogues du vendeur:
  • Americana