Including Maps of Texas, Wisconsin and Iowa, and Oregon Territory. Very Rare Late Edition.
An important and elegantly colored American Atlas, published by Jeremiah Greenleaf in Brattleboro, Vermont.
Jeremiah Greenleaf's Universal Atlas is the continuation of the work of David Burr. Burr had previously published his Atlas of the State of New York (first published in 1829) and his Universal Atlas in 1835. Burr became the official topographer of the United States Post Office Department in 1832. The publication of his Postal Atlas of the United States in 1839 likely resulted in his ceasing involvement and selling the rights to his Universal Atlas and New York Atlas in the same year.
The maps are elegantly engraved in copper and feature a fine wash color, a significant upgrade from the work of earlier publishers. Several noteworthy maps of American Territories, etc. are added, including:
- Texas (one of only a few separate atlas maps to show the Republic of Texas, along with Bradford, Tanner, and Arrowsmith)
- Oregon Territory ( the only American atlas map to illustrate Oregon Territory in its earliest configuration)
- Wisconsin and Iowa
- Map of the Territory of Florida
An indispensable work for American atlas collectors.
Editions
The first edition of Greenleaf's work was issued in 1840. The current atlas advertises that it is "A new edition, revised and corrected to the present time."
OCLC records editions published in 1842, 1843, and 1848. Rumsey (2866) notes the existence of the 1849 edition in writing about his 1848:
Not in Karpinski, which is strange because Michigan is totally redrawn, not in Phillips or any other reference. There is also an 1849 edition (property of C.W.) that has similar maps except the Mexico map does not reflect the Mexican War boundary - probably he was running out of maps and this was at the bottom of the stack!