Catalog Archive
Auction 124, Lot 124

"[Lot of 2] United States [and] North America", Carey & Lea

Subject: United States & North America

Period: 1834 (published)

Publication: Family Cabinet Atlas

Color: Hand Color

Size:
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The United States and Great Britain established in 1818 joint claim over the Oregon Territory - the region north of Spanish controlled Upper California up to the southern boundary of Russia's Alaska Territory at North latitude 54°40'. By the late 1830's this arrangement was beginning to fall apart. In the 1840's the expansionist Democrats, including their 1844 presidential candidate, James Polk, claimed the entire region for the United States. Their expansionist desires were expressed by Polk's famous campaign slogan, "Fifty-four Forty or Fight!" The slogan also became a rally cry for Americans desiring to settle the territory. Following Polk's election, the dispute was resolved by the 1846 Treaty of Oregon, which struck a compromise that fixed the U.S./Canadian boundary at 49º North.

An interesting and uncommon pair of miniature maps from Carey & Lea's re-engraved, American version of Thomas Starling's Family Cabinet Atlas, both with the accompanying index sheets.

1) The map of the United States shows U.S. claims into British Columbia with the Western Territory taking up the entire Pacific Northwest. The large Missouri Territory extends to the Canadian border, and Texas is named but still part of Mexico. A numbered key at left indicates 24 states and 4 territories, including Michigan, Wisconsin, Arkansas and Florida. The map has nice original color. It has some foxing, mostly in the margins. Condition: B+ (5.5 x 3.5")
2) North America features more topography, with the L. Sale (Salt Lake) noted in the Southwest. The claims of the United States extend into Canada as in the map above. Condition: A with nice original color (3.5 x 5.5").

References:

Condition:

See descriptions.

Estimate: $190 - $240

Sold for: $150

Closed on 5/7/2008

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