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ARROWSMITH, John (1790-1873)

Map of Texas, compiled from Surveys recorded in the Land Office of Texas and other Official Surveys.

London: Arrowsmith, 1858. Copper-engraved map, with original outline colour. Sheet size: 26 1/2 x 21 5/8 inches.

The great European map of the Republic of Texas.

Arrowsmith's map was probably the first to show the full extent of the Texas claim to the region of the upper Rio Grande, an area included within Texas borders until the Compromise of 1850. The map includes two insets, one showing the geographical relationship of Mexico, Texas and the United States (prior to the Mexican War), and another inset showing Galveston Bay, with soundings illustrating for the traveler safe routes to Houston and Galveston. The popularity and general acceptance of the map was shown by the fact that many mapmakers copied liberally from Arrowsmith's map, including some of its errors. As one of the earliest maps to contain information from the General Land Office of Texas, the map located Indian tribes, major roadways, and included editorial comments for the benefit of the future traveler to Texas, such as "excellent land," "valuable land," "rich land," and "delightful country."
This issue of the map extends the outline colouring to include the recently formed southeastern counties.

Martin & Martin, Maps of Texas and the Southwest, 1513-1900; plate 32; Tooley, 'Printed Maps of America', in Map Collector's Circle 69, item 262.

#20131$27,500.00
 
 
ARROWSMITH, John (1790-1873)

Map of Texas, compiled from Surveys recorded in the Land Office of Texas and other Official Surveys.

London: Arrowsmith, 1841. Copper-engraved map, with original outline colour, in very good condition, but for an expertly repaired tear (with no loss) at upper right. Sheet size: 24 1/2 x 20 1/2 inches.

The great European map of the Republic of Texas.

Arrowsmith's map was probably the first to show the full extent of Texas's claim to the region of the upper Rio Grande, an area included within Texas's boundaries until the Compromise of 1850. The map includes two insets, one showing the geographical relationship of Mexico, Texas and the United States, and another inset showing Galveston Bay, with soundings illustrating for the traveler the best route to the new city of Houston. The popularity and general acceptance of the map was shown by the fact that many mapmakers copied liberally from Arrowsmith's map, including some of its errors. As one of the earliest maps to contain information from the General Land Office of Texas, the map located Indian tribes, major roadways, and included editorial comments for the benefit of the future traveler to Texas, such as "excellent land," "valuable land," "rich land," and "delightful country."

In spite of its few errors, the map was certainly the best information on Texas geography available in Europe during the decade in which the political fate of the new Republic was of international concern.

The present copy is the Kennedy state, from William Kennedy's The Rise, Progress and Prospects of the Republic of Texas. The imprint line gives the publication date as "17 April 1841." When the map is found in the London Atlas, it is usually the third state dated "8 June 1843."

Martin & Martin, Maps of Texas and the Southwest, 1513-1900; plate 32; Tooley, 'Printed Maps of America', in Map Collector's Circle 69, item 262.

#5901$27,500.00
 
 
BELLIN, Jacques Nicolas (1703-72)

[North Pacific] Carte Réduite de L'Ocean Septentrional compris entre l'Asie et l'Amerique suivant les Decouvertes qui ont été faites par les Russes...

Paris: J. N. Bellin, 1766. Copper-engraved map, in very good condition. Sheet size: 25 1/3 x 37 1/8 inches.

A fascinating map of the North Pacific shown just before the voyages of Cook, by Bellin, the esteemed French Royal hydrographer, present here in the first state

This extremely interesting and finely engraved large map depicts the northern Pacific Ocean, and adjacent coasts during an early stage in its exploration, after the first wave of great Russian explorers but just before the momentous voyages of Captain James Cook. The map embraces a vast expanse from north of the 35th parallel, from Japan to California. The map shows the tracks of the Russian voyages of Bering and his deputy Aleksei Chirikov conducted from 1728-43 that first defined eastern Siberia and touched upon the American northwest. Save the imaginary bulge on the north coast of the Chuckchi Peninsula, the coasts of Siberia are extremely well-defined, attesting to Bering's enormous talent as a cartographer. Japan, whose rulers were known to be especially unwelcoming to foreign explorers, is not well understood, such that its large northernmost island, Hokkaido, does not appear at all on the map.

It is perhaps Bellin's depiction of North America that is most intriguing. It shows how Bering and Chirikov touched on various points of the Aleutians and sighted Mount St. Elias, the 18,000 ft. peak located near the top of the Alaska panhandle. The Pacific northwest immediately south of that point is entirely conjectural noting apocryphal discoveries such as the 'River of the King's' encountered by the Spanish Admiral de Fuente in 1640, and the Strait of Juan De Fuca, discovered in 1592. Although the latter body of water does exist, it was probably first encountered by Europeans in the 1770s. Bellin does, however, note Sir Francis Drake's actual discovery of 'Nouvelle Albion' (northern California) in 1578. The map optimistically shows a land route across the continent to the Pacific, decades before any such endeavor was embarked upon. The mapping of the heart of North America is also most curious, as it shows the Red River system, which in reality flows towards Hudson's Bay, as being connected to the Mississippi Basin. The map is elegantly traversed by rhumb lines and the composition is completed by an exquisite rococo title cartouche.

This map was part of the l'Hydrographie Française, a great sea atlas, published by Bellin in two volumes from 1755 to 1766. This was one of the finest works of the prolific Bellin, the "Hydrographer to the King", who was so highly regarded that the British (who were almost always at war with France) made him a member of their Royal Society.

Kershaw, Early Maps of Canada IV, 1125, plate 879; Wagner, Cartography of the Northwest Coast of America, 610

#19716$2,750.00
 
 
CREUZBAUR, Robert

J. De Cordova's Map of the State of Texas Compiled from the Records of the General Land Office of the State

New York: Published by J.H. Colton, 1861. Engraved map by Creuzbaur, coloured by hand. Some splits at old folds, neatly repaired. Sheet size: 36 x 34 inches.

A very rare and little-known edition of the most important map of Texas during the early statehood period.

Jacob De Cordova (1808 - 1868) was one of the first major land speculators in Texas. He hired Robert Creuzbaur, of the Texas General Land Office, to compile this map for promotional purposes. It was the first map of the state to be constructed through the use of the files of the Land Office, which was responsible for keeping a record of all land transactions in the state, though De Cordova is said to have spent a great deal of time in the saddle, personally studying Texas real estate. The land office was especially important, as Texas had been allowed to keep its public lands when it entered the Union, the only state allowed to do so, and the Land Office records were the only reasonably accurate source for the topography of some 250 million acres in the public domain. Creuzbaur gave equal attention to the more settled eastern parts of the state, and the map is the best, most detailed record of settlement in Texas during the period. Measuring nearly three feet square, it was the first large-scale map of Texas.

De Cordova's map was originally published in Houston in 1849, with subsequent Houston editions issued in 1851, 1853, and 1854. Publication rights were subsequently sold to J. H. Colton, who published editions in New York from 1856 onwards. This 1861 edition is the best cartographic record of Texas at the beginning of the Civil War. It incorporates extensive revisions, with new counties, towns, railroads, roads, and topographical detail, particularly in the little-known western parts of the state.

R. S. Martin noted that without question, "the map published by Jacob De Cordova in 1849 best summarizes the geographical information available about Texas immediately after the Mexican War...the map presents a remarkably accurate and detailed rendering of the area south and east of San Antonio." But north and west of that point, however, "the data are scarce and the features sparse." However, the later editions were carefully revised to account for new information, particularly in West Texas, and it is this fact which makes them so valuable.

All editions of De Cordova's map are rare, but the 1861 edition seems to be among the rarest. This edition is not in the Texas State Archives, which has those of 1851, 1856, 1866 and 1872 (Day); not in the Library of Congress, which has the editions of 1849, 1851, 1853, 1856, and 1857 (Phillips, America); not in the Rosenberg Library, which has the 1849, 1851, and 1856 editions (Taliaferro); and not in University of Texas at Arlington, which has only the 1849 edition.

Martin & Martin, Maps of Texas & the Southwest plate 39 (1849 edition); cf. Robert Sidney Martin, "United States Army Mapping in Texas, 1848-50", The Mapping of the American Southwest p. 39 (1849 edition).

#20686$45,000.00
 
 
FER, Nicholas de (1646-1720)

[California] La Californie ou Nouvelle Caroline teatro de los Trabajos Apostolicos de la Compa. Jesus en la America Septe.

Paris: De Fer dans l'Isle du Palais à la Sphere Royale, 1720. Copper-engraved map, with original outline colour, in excellent condition. Sheet size: 19 3/4 x 28 3/8 inches.

One of the largest and most important depictions of California as an Island.

This is one of the finest early maps of California and the Southwest. Wheat called it an "important and carefully drawn map"; and Tooley described it as a "fine rare map ... a reissue of de Fer's map of 1705 but on a larger scale and with some notable additions."

The map was based on information gathered by Father Eusibio Kino before 1695. Kino, Jesuit missionary and traveler, visited Baja California in 1685. He was among the Seris and Pimas in 1690, after which he transferred to northern Sonora, where he remained until his death in 1711. His missionary work in Sonora included expeditions north and west to Arizona. In 1696, he sent to Rome a compilation of his cartographical work. It was this manuscript, or another similar map now lost, on which Nicholas de Fer based his printed map.

De Fer's map is probably the best synthesis of knowledge for the region on the eve of Kino's subsequent 1701 discovery that California was attached to the continental landmass. De Fer still shows California as an island, probably the last great map to do so, and the Gila flows directly into the sea rather than correctly into the Colorado River. The Gila is thick with placenames, and New Mexico is well portrayed. Below the title is a lengthy engraved text that gives the early history of California up to 1695. Over three hundred and fifty towns and villages are located on the map. It is an invaluable record of the late seventeenth century missions and Indian villages in the region.

Lowery, The Lowery Collection, 205; McLaughlin, California as an Island, 196; Tooley, 'California as an Island,' 83, in The Mapping of America; Wheat, Mapping of the Transmississippi West, 102.

#19718$12,000.00
 
 
GODDARD, Charles

Britton & Rey's Map of the State of California

San Francisco: 1860. Hand-coloured. Several fold tears repaired and restored. Laid on fresh linen. Sheet size: 30.25 x 24.75 inches.

Extremely rare map of California, by George Goddard.

George H. Goddard came to California in 1850. In 1855, he surveyed a part of the boundary between California and Utah Territory (now Nevada). He later surveyed for the Western Pacific Railroad and for John Charles Fremont. He also surveyed most of the important passes Sierra Nevada Mountains. Mount Goddard still bears the name of this important early surveyor.

In 1855, Goddard compiled a manuscript map of California on a scale of two miles to the inch. The map was a remarkable improvement on the best available maps, so much so that Marlette, the States Surveyor General petitioned the California legislature to purchase Goddard's map, stating that nowhere else could so complete and extensive a map be obtained. After the legislature rejected the proposal, Goddard submitted a version of the manuscript to Britton & Rey, who lithographed and published it for the first time in 1857. Among its many distinctions, it was the first map to accurately locate Lake Tahoe (here Lake Bigler), derived from Goddard's own surveys in the Sierra Nevada. The last recorded example of the map to appear on the market was offered in Warren Howell's Catalogue 50, where Howell offered the Grabhorn-Streeter copy. In part quoting Carl Wheat and Thomas Streeter, Howell described the map in 1972 (Catalogue 42) as a beautiful example of the cartographer's art, is unfortunately rare and little-known … it was by far the most complete and accurate map of California that had yet appeared.

Goddard, a talented surveyor, had first prepared a larger manuscript map, using all available data, on a scale of two miles to the inch, and the published map of 1857 was doubtless a re-drawing of this map on a smaller scale. The wealth of information which now appears throughout California graphically discloses the extent to which large portions of this vast and hitherto empty land had been peopled. Gold had swiftly done its work. The Goddard map is a fitting monument to the frenzied activity and achievements of the gold seekers, and with it the purely Gold Rush phase of California cartography comes to an end (WHEAT, 25 California Maps, 22).

The map shows towns and settlements, trails, wagon roads, and county boundaries. Relief is indicated by hachures; numerous spot elevations are given; and physical features are named. The scale is 1 inch to 24 miles. Coverage includes the western half of Utah Territory and a northwestern corner of New Mexico Territory--- the area comprising the future State of Nevada. A reduced scale version, with revision, was published in 1858 and a new edition on a slightly larger scale in 1860.

No example of either the 1858 or 1860 editions have apparently been offered at auction or in a dealer catalogue in the past 50 years.. However, while researching this map, we were fortunate to note that a copy of an 1858 edition, most likely the true 2nd Edition of Goddard's map (this example being called by Goddard the 3rd Edition), was sold in a private transaction in 2005. This 1858 edition indicated that it had been updated following the adjournment of the legislature in 1858.

An exceptionally rare and important California map.

Gold Region, 302; Wheat, Transmississippi, 921; Heckrotte, California 49, 36; Streeter Sale, 2819; Phillips, America, p. 185.

#24045$12,000.00
 
 
HUTAWA, Julius

Map of Mexico & California Compiled from the latest authorities by Juls. Hutawa ... 2nd. Edition

St. Louis, Missouri: Julius Hutawa, 1863. Folding lithographic map (sheet size: 24 x 19½ inches) by Hutawa, hand-coloured in outline, small repaired tears, tipped onto the inner lower cover of the original drab paper-covered boards.

An interesting and rare Gold Rush-era map, showing the locations of various western Indian tribes, overland routes, and the region comprising present-day Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and Oklahoma.

The fourth issue of an interesting and historically-important map. The Cooke and Kearny routes to the Pacific are shown, and there is an inset showing the area around Mexico City.

This example is preceded by three earlier issues which all appeared within a couple of years of each other in 1847 to 1849. The present example differs from its precursors in that it is dated 1863, includes the words "New Mexico" printed on the map, and has colored boundaries indicating the Gadsen Purchase. "Particularly interesting is the number of routes west traced on the map; most of them are accurate. The locations given in New Mexico are very full" (Graff), also included are fascinating details of the locations of forts, trading posts, and various Native American tribes.

The German-born printer, Julius F. Hutawa, settled in St. Louis where, along with his brother Edward, he established a well-known lithography and printing business in the 1830s. The present map is a prime example of their specialized traveler's maps.

Wheat Gold Regions 46N; Wheat Transmississippi 1072; Graff 2026; Howell California 52:440; David Rumsey Collection, list # 0335.001; Streeter sale, lot nos. 179 & 180; Wheat Mapping the Transmississippi West III, 562; Wheat Maps of the California Gold Rush 46; Wheat 1072.

#20275$3,750.00
 
 
MEXICAN AMERICAN WAR. - Samuel Augustus MITCHELL (1792-1868).

Map of Mexico, including Yucatan & Upper California, exhibiting the chief cities and towns, the principal travelling routes &c.

Philadelphia: S. Augustus Mitchell, 1847. Engraved folding map, full period hand colouring, ornamental border. Inset of "The Late Battlefield [of Monterey]." (Flattened and backed onto linen, minor staining). Sheet size: 20 7/8 x 28 3/4 inches.

Mitchell's famed Mexican-American War map: this copy with intriguing early manuscript additions.

At the outbreak of the Mexican-American War, Mitchell saw great demand for maps detailing with the conflict and he quickly published in 1846 his folding map of Mexico, with Texas prominently shown with a red outline with its panhandle extending to the 42nd parallel. The map was very much a war map, with topographical information kept to a minimum, but with roads, towns, political divisions, and rivers clearly depicted. Mitchell updated this map several times during the course of the war, as news arrived of specific battles, adding flags to indicate the battle sites (including the Alamo, Monterey, San Jacinto, Palo Alto and others) and other new geographic details. Several such editions appeared in 1847, with the present being an early issue, before the addition of a new inset showing the roads from Vera Cruz to Mexico City, and the title of the plan of Monterey being renamed "Battle Field of Monterey."

The war was to continue until 1848, when the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ceded a large portion of the southwest to the United States, establishing the U.S.-Mexican border at the Rio Grande River. The actual setting of the border was a source of confusion, however. During the treaty negotations a copy of Disturnell's map was used, which incorrectly located the Rio Grande, among other errors. These problems were identified by the Mexican-United States Boundary Commission, and eventually settled with the ratification of the Gadsden Purchase in 1854.

The contemporary manuscript additions to the present copy of the map show what appear to be boundary lines, running east to west along the 30th parallel from the Rio Grande to the Pacific, another running northwest from Corpus Christi, and another along the Gila River. It is unclear, but seems likely, that these markings relate to the boundary disputes.

Rumsey 3119; Streeter sale 3869; Wheat 548; Wheat, Gold 35.

#24784$8,500.00
 
 
MITCHELL, S.A.

Map of the State of Texas Engraved to Illustrate Mitchell's School and Family Geography.

Philadelphia: Thomas, Cowperthwait & Co., [c. 1852]. Hand-colored engraving by J. H. Young. Mild time toning. Occasional spots. Two minor creases in the lower right corner. Small losses in top margin. Sheet size: 9 3/4 x 11 5/8 inches.

A small but comprehensive map of Texas, showing the new boundaries after the Compromise of 1850, with inset maps of the panhandle and Galveston. Included are topographical details and several trails: the Santa Fe Trail and a number of west Texas trails emanating from the Pecos River.

Rumsey, 554 (Atlas)

#6109$650.00
 
 
TANNER, H.[enry] S.[chenck] (1786-1858)

[Mexico] A Map of the United States of Mexico, as organized and defined by the several acts of Congress of the Republic ... Second edition, 1846

Philadelphia: H.S. Tanner, 1846. Copper-engraved map, on banknote paper, with original hand-colour. Good condition with some expert restoration to margins and old folds. Sheet size: 22 7/8 x 29 5/8 inches.

An important and rare map of Mexico and the southwestern United States, depicting Texas in its largest form, the 1846 "Second edition" of the celebrated Tanner map.

The present map embraces all of modern Mexico and the southwestern United States of America, and prominently features the new state of Texas with its original extensive boundaries. H.S. Tanner, of Philadelphia, was one of the most esteemed American mapmakers of the first half of the nineteenth-century. His 1822 Map of North America was one of the most influential of the period. In 1825, he excerpted and enlarged the portion of the map pertaining to what was a newly-independent Mexico, which then included the entire American southwest. Tanner's map effectively became the definitive source map for the region. It was brazenly copied in the White Gallaher & White map of 1828, which in turn directly inspired the famous Disturnell map of 1846, the "Treaty map" initially used to consider the redemarcation of the international border following the Mexican-American war.

Walter Ristow noted that Tanner produced the first edition of the United States of Mexico map in 1825, and furthermore cited that he "issued 10 variants of one or another of five states" of the map up to 1847. The present map is officially termed as the "1846, second edition", although it is actually the seventh variant of the map to be issued, according to Ristow's classification. It closely follows the "1832, second edition," even including the "April 2nd, 1832" copyright imprint in the lower right corner. At this time, interest in all matters relating to Mexico and Texas amongst the American public was at an all-time high, and it is thought that Tanner hastily prepared this edition in order to capitalize on the commercial opportunities. Tanner did not take the time to avail himself of the most recent geographical advances, and consequently this map is a fascinating cartographic hold-out during a time of unprecedented change.

Texas is portrayed as an enormous Mexican state, although it had since 1832 seceded, and later joined the Union as an American state. Its massive territory extends far to the north and west of its modern limits, following the eastern band of the Rio Grande up to its headwaters, up into the 'stovepipe' to a point touching the 42nd parallel. The geographical detailing of most of Texas is quite accurate, as Tanner was well apprised of Stephen F. Austin's surveys, a point underscored by his inclusion of 'Austin's Colony' in east-central Texas. In an improvement to it antecedent, the western portion of the state owes its form to William Emory's map of 1844. The depiction of what is now modern Mexico is quite advanced, in light of Alexander von Humboldt's exhaustive charting of the country.

At this time, Tanner elected not to include information from Charles Frémont's ground-breaking map of 1845, based on his own discoveries. The coastline of Alta California still maintains a mythical quality, void of most actual details such as San Francisco Bay, but is replete with imaginary details such as the Buenaventura, Los Mongos, Timpangos and San Felipe Rivers. The interior regions extending all the way into what is now Colorado are shown to be almost completely unknown. A curious prophetic detail is the demarcation of a boundary line between Alta and Baja California, although located to the south of the international border that was to be set in 1848. The map includes a detailed inset depicting the key travel route from the port of Veracruz to Mexico City, the same path taken by U.S. forces during their successful attack on the Mexican capital in 1847. In the spirit of the times, the map also includes two statistical tables, one of distances and the other of population and geographical details of individual states. Tanner, wishing to update this map, produced a "third edition" later that same year that included Frémont's discoveries.

Ristow A la Carte p.207; Wheat Mapping the Transmississippi West vol.III, p. 38

#19284$30,000.00
 
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