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Description

An Early John Melish Map of the United States

Nice example of John Melish's scarce early United States, published in Philadelphia.

This important map by the noted American cartographer John Melish is the uncommon and early issue from the Travellers Directory of 1816. This map should not be confused with Melish's more common and nearly identical "United States of America Compiled from the latest & best Authorities" that was published in several editions between 1818 and 1822.

There is at least one date engraved in the map of "Ceded by the Sac & Fox Indians 3. Novr. 1814. This very early edition has the script title in a simple border of interlocking chains. Later editions of the Travellers Directory replaced this map with the later edition mentioned above, which included the flying eagle vignette with a shield above the title.

The map extends west to include all of Louisiana and part of the huge Missouri Territory. It provides a good view of the first 300 miles of the Missouri River based on information from the expeditions of Lewis & Clark, Pike, Humboldt and others. The only state shown west of the Mississippi is Louisiana. Above Louisiana, Missouri has good watershed detail south of the Missouri River, but is blank to the north and labeled "Unexplored Country."

The early territories of Michigan, Illinois, Indiana are noted as well as the North West Ter. that takes in the area that would become Wisconsin and Minnesota. A notation of Yazoo Speculation in the oversized Mississippi Territory refers to the Yazoo Land Fraud perpetrated in 1789-1796 when the region was part of Georgia. Three companies bribed and intimidated a bill through the Georgia assembly that allowed them to purchase millions of acres of land for next to nothing, resulting in a huge public outcry. The bill's supporters were swiftly voted out of power, and Senator James Jackson took office. He vowed to repeal the Yazoo Act if it cost him his life, saying he would repeal it even if he had to shoot everyone involved in passing it. He didn't have to shoot anyone, and the law was rescinded in 1796. The fact it is shown on a map produced many years later attests to the importance attributed to this fraudulent scheme.  

The map would later be re-issued with Geological coloring for  the Transaction of the American Philosophical Society, to accompany William Maclure's Observations on the Geology of the United States, one of the first geological maps of the United States.  

The map is one of the earliest maps to show the newly formed Alabama Territory and identifies a massive Missouri Territory, west of the Mississippi River. Indiana is directly below Lake Michigan, with Illinois Territory pushed far to the West off Lake Michigan and Chicago shown in Indiana.

Nice Indian detail throughout the newly formed Northwestern Territories and in Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia.

The map is quite scarce on the market, this being the first example we have handled in 20 years.  An earlier state exists, pre-dating the creation of Alabama Territory.

Condition Description
Several repaired fold splits.
John Melish Biography

John Melish (1771-1822) was the most prominent American mapmaker of his generation, even though his cartographic career lasted only a decade. Melish was born in Scotland; he moved to the West Indies in 1798 and then to the United States in 1806. By 1811, he had settled in Philadelphia and published Travels through the United States of America, in the years 1806 & 1807, and 1809, 1810, & 1811, which was richly illustrated with maps.

Melish created several regional maps of the highest quality, as well as the Military & Topographical Atlas of the United States (Philadelphia, 1813, expanded 1815). The latter work is widely considered to be the finest cartographic publication to come out of the War of 1812.

By far his best-known work is his monumental map of the United States of 1816, Map of the United States with the contiguous British and Spanish Possessions. He began working on the map in 1815 and sent it to Thomas Jefferson for comment in 1816. Jefferson enthusiastically reviewed the map and returned it with his edits. Jefferson later hung an example of the map in the Entrance Hall of Monticello and sent it to associates in Europe.

Melish’s finished product was the first map of the United States to extend to the Pacific Ocean. After its publication in 1816, Melish ensured the map was as up-to-date as possible; it was reissued in 25 known states published between 1816 and 1823. The map captured the then rapidly changing geography of the United States, as well as various boundary disputes, treaties, and expansion.