Map of the United States with the contiguous British and Spanish Possessions
DraftsmanEngraved by
Henry Schenck Tanner
(American, 1786 - 1858)
PrintmakerEngraved by
John Vallance
(American, 1770 - 1823)
PublisherPublished by
John Melish
(Scottish, 1771 - 1822)
Date1822
MediumEngraving; black printer's ink and watercolor on paper
DimensionsPrimary Dimensions (image height x width): 43 x 56 3/4in. (109.2 x 144.1cm)
Sheet (height x width): 45 1/8 x 58 1/8in. (114.6 x 147.6cm)
ClassificationsGraphics
Credit LineConnecticut Museum of Culture and History collection
Object number2012.312.177
DescriptionMap of North America, extending from Upper Canada to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Guatemala and the Yucatan peninsula to the south, and New California to the west. State and territorial boundaries are outlined in broken/dotted lines and color, and towns are marked with circles. Physical features include rivers and mountains. Exploration routes and roads are also included as double-solid lines; roads are marked with distances in miles between points. An inset map of the West Indies is found in the lower right corner. In the lower left corner, there is a statistical table with extent, area and population information about the countries, states and territories depicted on the map. Degrees of latitude and longitude are marked inside the borders. The cartouche feagures a bald eagle holding an olive branch in its right talon and a bundle of arrows in its left, with its head turned toward the left. In its beak, it holds a ribbon bearing a shield featuring thirteen stripes and nineteen stars. Above the eagle's head, the ribbon is inscribed with the Latin "E pluribus unum," "Out of many, one."
Label TextThough Connecticut is a very small spot on this large map, a surprising amount of detail is shown: more than twenty towns, together with the roads connecting them. Connecticut residents in the 1820s would have consulted this map, one of the first large-scale maps to show the United States stetching from the Atlantic to the Pacific, when they planned their business ventures or thought about moving west. Detailed and accurate representations of towns, roads, and rivers east of the Mississippi, are replaced with vague notations of the locations of various Indian tribes in the west. This is the final version of this important, which was first published in 1816. This version includes extra sheets at the bottom showing Mexico and the Caribbean.
NotesCartographic Note: Scale: 1 inch equals 60 milesStatus
Not on view
