1867 Mitchell Map of the United States
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Description: A fine example of Mitchell’s 1867 map of the United States. Depicts the entirety of the continental United States along with parts of Canada and Mexico. Shows the country in considerable detail with notations regarding railroads, mail routes (including the famed Pony Express Route), emigrant routes westward, topographical, and political details. Represents the 1867 state of the map in which the western states appear much as they do today with but two notable exceptions. Wyoming retains its western panhandle, which was later resolved into Montana, and Dacotah (Dacota) is one large state. The earlier insets of Norfolk Harbor and Hampton Roads have been replaced with a single inset map of Newfoundland. Mitchell would go on to update this map with a new copyright in 1870, when he corrects for Wyoming, and in 1872. One of the most attractive American atlas maps of the United States to appear in the mid 19th century. Features the floral border typical of Mitchell maps from the 1866-87 period. Prepared by W. Williams for inclusion as map nos. 10 and 11 in the 1867 issue of Mitchell’s New General Atlas. Dated and copyrighted, “Entered according to Act of Congress in the Year 1867 by S. A. Mitchell Jr. in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the U.S. for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.”
Date: 1867 (undated)
Source: Mitchell's new general atlas, containing maps of the various countries of the World, plans of cities, etc. (1867 edition)
References: Rumsey 2483.008 (1870 edition)
Cartographer: Samuel Augustus Mitchell Senior began his map publishing career in the early 1830s. Having worked as a school teacher, Mitchell was frustrated with the low quality and inaccuracy of school texts of the period. His first maps were an attempt to rectify this problem. In the next 20 years Mitchell would become the most prominent American map publisher of the mid-19th century. Mitchell worked with prominent engravers H. S. Tanner and H. N. Burroughs before attaining the full copyright on his maps in 1847. In 1849 Mitchell teamed up with printer Cowperthwait & Company to produce the Mitchell's Universal Atlas and the Mitchell's General Atlas. In the late 1850s most of the Mitchell copyrights were bought by Desilver and Co. who continued to publish his maps, many with modified borders and color schemes, until Mitchell's son, Samuel Augustus Mitchell Jr, entered the picture. S.A. Mitchell Jr. purchased most of the copyrights back from Desilver and, from 1860 on, published his own New General Atlas. The younger Mitchell became as prominent as his father and published atlases well into the late 1880s when most of the copyrights were again sold and the Mitchell firm closed its doors for the final time. Click here for a list of rare maps from Samuel Augustus Mitchell.
Size: Printed area measures 21.5 x 13.5 inches (54.61 x 34.29 centimeters)
Condition: Very good condition. Minor water stain, almost invisible, near the Montana / Dakota border. Original centerfold.
Code: UnitedStates-mitchell-1867 (Necessary for phone inquiries: 646-320-8650)
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