A NEW MAP OF TEXAS, OREGON AND CALIFORNIA. WITH THE REGIONS ADJOINING COMPILED FROM THE MOST RECENT AUTHORITIES. [Contained in:] A GENERAL VIEW OF THE UNITED STATES; COMPRISING, ALSO, A DESCRIPTION OF EACH INDIVIDUAL STATE AND TERRITORY IN THE UNION.

Mitchell, S. Augustus:

Edité par Philadelphia: S. Augustus Mitchell, 1846.

A propos de cet article

The very important 1846 Mitchell map of Texas and the American West, here included as frontispiece to his General View of the United States, published the same year. Samuel Augustus Michell was one of the most influential map publishers in America in the 19th century, also producing numerous travel guides and statistical compilations to accompany them. The map present here is one of his most significant, representing "a great step forward, in that it is among the first by a commercial cartographer to utilize the recent explorations that had bounded and determined the nature of the Great Basin.because of its popularity, this map of the West exerted great influence, not only with the public but on other commercial cartographers" (Wheat). Published in 1846, this highly detailed "New Map of Texas, Oregon and California with the Regions Adjoining" would have been of immediate value to the public, who were focused with intense interest on the war breaking out on the Texas-Mexico border. It depicts the western portion of the United States to the Pacific, with Indian Territory, Missouri Territory, Iowa, and portions of the states of Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Wisconsin, as well as northern Mexico and part of British Columbia, illustrating in detail the trans-Mississippi region. The Santa Fe Trail and the Oregon Trail are both detailed, the latter with a table of distances published in the lower corner of the map. It is also deeply reflective of America's most aggressive land claims: Texas is elaborately depicted with the Rio Grande as its southern border, and Oregon is shown extended to 54deg 40". As one of if not the best commercial Western maps available, it played a part in some of the largest developments in the country at the time: Brigham Young, for example, ordered six copies before setting out for Utah that winter. The map was originally published with a short pamphlet very similar to the book offered here; it describes each territory or state in turn, with notes on Lewis and Clark and other early explorers, and more historical material. The General View of the United States which accompanies this copy provides detailed statistics, tables, and charts for every state in the Union as of 1840, including population, institutions of higher education, and details of mining and natural resources. The section on "Western States and Territories" prints much of the same information as the original accompaniment, including notes on Lewis and Clark, Pike, and Long, and additional details which Wheat calls "perhaps the clearest statement of Oregon and California facts that came out of the period just prior to the settlement of the former's boundaries and the inclusion of the latter in the United States." A valuable and historically important map, and highly illustrative of the explosive territorial expansion and concomitant conflicts of the 19th century. Map: HOWES M685, "aa." SABIN 49714. MARTIN & MARTIN 36. WAGNER-CAMP 122b. COWAN, p.433. WHEAT TRANSMISSISSIPPI 520. STREETER SALE 2511. PHILLIPS, MAPS, p.844. WHEAT GOLD REGIONS 29. REESE, BEST OF THE WEST 91. GRAFF 2841. Text: SABIN 49716. Original half cloth and printed paper boards. Boards a bit stained and soiled, extremities worn, neat cloth repairs to rear joint. Map: Light tanning and foxing, top edge slightly ragged, not touching image, two closed tears near where map is attached to gutter, repaired with paper on verso. Text tanned and foxed, a handful of early pencil annotations throughout and ownership inscription in ink on final page. A very good copy of the map, the text about the same.

N° de réf. du vendeur 66371

Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: A NEW MAP OF TEXAS, OREGON AND CALIFORNIA. WITH THE REGIONS ADJOINING COMPILED FROM THE MOST RECENT AUTHORITIES. [Contained in:] A GENERAL VIEW OF THE UNITED STATES; COMPRISING, ALSO, A DESCRIPTION OF EACH INDIVIDUAL STATE AND TERRITORY IN THE UNION.
• Éditeur: Philadelphia: S. Augustus Mitchell, 1846.
• Édition: Edition originale