A NEW AMERICAN ATLAS CONTAINING MAPS OF THE SEVERAL STATES OF THE NORTH AMERICAN UNION, PROJECTED AND DRAWN ON A UNIFORM SCALE FROM DOCUMENTS FOUND IN PUBLIC OFFICES OF THE UNITED STATES AND STATE GOVERNMENTS, AND OTHER ORIGINAL AND AUTHENTIC INFORMATION
Tanner, H[enry]. S[chenck].:
Philadelphia: H.S. Tanner, 1825. Letterpress half title, 1p. index and 18pp. text. Engraved title with vignette of the "First Landing of Columbus in the New World," eighteen fine handcolored engraved maps (sixteen maps on sixteen double-page sheets; one map folding [made up from two sheets numbered 6 and 7 in the index] with one cloth joint; and one large folding map [made up from 4 sheets, numbered 8- 11]) with five cloth joints. Folio. Contemporary calf, elaborately tooled in gilt and blind on the front and rear boards, spine richly gilt and with gilt morocco labels. Spine ends and corners of boards expertly restored. Small closed split along lower portion of center fold of world map, with no loss. Very neat and clean. Very good. A fine copy of the second edition of "one the most magnificent atlases ever published in the United States," engraved during the "Golden Age of American Cartography" (Ristow). Tanner's NEW AMERICAN ATLAS contained the most accomplished series of maps of America that had yet appeared in an atlas. Of greatest importance were the maps of American states, which were highly detailed and brilliantly colored. While New York and Florida each had their own dedicated page, other double-page sheets showcased multiple states at a time. As the title states, these maps were drawn up using a careful combination of original surveys and the best existing published sources. The evident high cost of production meant that the publishers took the decision to issue the maps originally in five separate parts which were published from 1819 to 1823. A first collected edition was published in 1823, and this second revised edition appeared in 1825. The maps, all of which are carefully handcolored, include a world map, four maps of continents, a map of South America on a large folding sheet made up from two joined sheets, a very large folding map of North America on four joined sheets, and eleven double-page maps of the various States. Contemporary reviews were favorable: the NEW AMERICAN ATLAS "is decidedly one of the most splendid works of the kind ever executed in this country" (UNITED STATES GAZETTE, September 1823). Never "has either America or Europe, produced a geographical description of the several States of the Union, so honorable to the Arts, and so creditable to the nation as Tanner's AMERICAN ATLAS" (NATIONAL ADVOCATE, Aug. 25, 1824). The most enthusiastic report came from scholar Jared Sparks, who wrote in the April 1824 issue of the North AMERICAN REVIEW that "as an American Atlas, we believe Mr. Tanner's work to hold a rank far above any other, which has been published." HOWES T29. PHILLIPS ATLASES 1376. RISTOW, pp.154, 193-98 (ref). RUMSEY 2892. SABIN 94319.
(Item ID: WRCAM39227A) $85,000.00