First Edition of Mitchell's Wall Map - His Inaugural Production

"Map of the United States", Mitchell/Young

This is the scarce first edition of the first wall map issued by Mitchell and engraved by J.H. Young, D. Haines, and F. Dankworth. Rumsey notes that the first edition does not have the counties delineated and numbered, as incorrectly stated by Ristow. The first edition shows more of the western territory than later editions by eliminating the index of counties. This map is Mitchell and Young’s first "original" publication as it predates the Traveler's Guide by one year, although they were both likely published in 1832. Mitchell had previously updated and reissued Finley’s American Atlas and Pocket Maps, but this map remains his inaugural cartographic creation.

The map extends west to Missouri and Arkansas Territory, or to about today’s 95th meridian, but the map uses only "Longitude West from Washington." Michigan is a territory and the huge area west of Lake Michigan later known as Western Territory is here simply labeled "Attached to Michigan." It features remarkable detail throughout with a large number of early towns, villages and wagon roads noted. Of special interest are the individual mileages given on every road between every junction, an astounding accomplishment. The entire map is surrounded by a decorative border.

The map includes the following three tables: "Statistics of the United States" shows population to 1830 including whites, free blacks, and slaves; "Distances on the Erie and Champlain Canals"; and "Lengths of the Principle Canals in the United States." There are two thematic charts including"Comparative Lengths of the Principle Rivers of the United States" and "Comparative Heights of the Principle Mountains and Hills in the United States." Also included are six city plans: Boston; New York, Philadelphia; Baltimore & Washington; Vicinity of Charleston; and Vicinity of N. Orleans.

The large inset map of North America includes "all the Recent Geographical Discoveries." This map shows a huge Missouri Territory, and the border in the northwest extends well into today’s British Columbia suggesting the Fifty-Four Forty or Fight boundary dispute between the United States and Great Britain. Texas is named and part of Mexico with the large Great Desert extending north from the panhandle.

The title cartouche is a tour-de-force for which Ristow devotes a paragraph describing the United States shield on a rock from which grows a tree with a large eagle. Around the tree is a harbor scene with steam and sailing ships and an early rendering of a steam locomotive: all modes of transportation that made western expansion possible. Fancy lettering and flourishes complete the cartouche.

This is one of the earliest steel-engraved maps created in the United States, a process favored by James H. Young. The commercial success of this map propelled his business to a position of dominance in American map making. It also signaled the beginning of the long alliance between Mitchell and the brilliant engraver Young, whose aesthetic sense and precision are beautifully showcased here. Mitchell and Young began making maps at the start of grand national expansion, following the expeditions of Lewis and Clark, Pike, and others; their path finding stimulated an interest in the West and thus created a strong market for maps and guidebooks.

References: Ristow, p. 309; Rumsey #2723.

Condition: B

The map is generally clean and bright with minimal darkening of the varnish. There are dampstains at top left and more substantially at top right with one small chip along the border. There is a 3.5" crack in a blank area off the coast of Florida, and scattered foxing in the table at lower left. Rollers are present and attached.