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1854 Mitchell Map of India
Hindoostan3-mitchell-1854$150.00
Title
Hindoostan.
1850 (dated) 16 x 13 in (40.64 x 33.02 cm) 1 : 9200000
1850 (dated) 16 x 13 in (40.64 x 33.02 cm) 1 : 9200000
Description
This is an attractive example of Thomas Cowperthwait and S. A. Mitchell's 1854 map of India. It covers the Indian subcontinent in considerable detail, with princely states and British possessions color coded. An inset in the lower right hand quadrant details the Delta of the Ganges River. The whole is engraved and colored in Mitchell's distinctive style with green border work and vivid pastels. Political and topographical features are noted and color coded with elevation rendered by hachure.
As this map was being drawn, the Indian subcontinent under the hegemony of the British East India Company. The newly appointed Governor General, Lord Dalhousie brought along several progressive changes including education, railways, canals, telegraph etc. At the same time dissatisfaction with the East India Company was rapidly growing. In 1857, the Sepoys of the British East Indian Company would revolt in India's First War of Independence. This would ultimately lead to the dissolution of the East India Company. Subsequently governance of India would be administered directly by the British Crown. The British Raj ruled India until its independence in 1947.
This map was prepared by S. A. Mitchell for publication as plate no. 69 by the Philadelphia firm of Thomas Cowperthwait and Co. in the 1854 edition of Mitchell's New General Atlas. Dated and copyrighted, 'Entered according to act of Congress in the year 1850 by Thomas Cowperthwait and Co. in the Clerk's office of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.'
As this map was being drawn, the Indian subcontinent under the hegemony of the British East India Company. The newly appointed Governor General, Lord Dalhousie brought along several progressive changes including education, railways, canals, telegraph etc. At the same time dissatisfaction with the East India Company was rapidly growing. In 1857, the Sepoys of the British East Indian Company would revolt in India's First War of Independence. This would ultimately lead to the dissolution of the East India Company. Subsequently governance of India would be administered directly by the British Crown. The British Raj ruled India until its independence in 1947.
This map was prepared by S. A. Mitchell for publication as plate no. 69 by the Philadelphia firm of Thomas Cowperthwait and Co. in the 1854 edition of Mitchell's New General Atlas. Dated and copyrighted, 'Entered according to act of Congress in the year 1850 by Thomas Cowperthwait and Co. in the Clerk's office of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.'
Cartographer
Samuel Augustus Mitchell (March 20, 1792 - December 20, 1868) began his map publishing career in the early 1830s. Mitchell was born in Bristol, Connecticut. He relocated to Philadelphia in 1821. Having worked as a school teacher and a geographical writer, 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 J. H. Young, H. S. Tanner, and H. N. Burroughs before attaining the full copyright on his maps in 1847. In 1849 Mitchell either partnered with or sold his plates to Thomas, Cowperthwait and Company who continued to publish the Mitchell's Universal Atlas. By about 1856 most of the Mitchell plates and copyrights were acquired by Charles Desilver who continued to publish the maps, many with modified borders and color schemes, until Mitchell's son, Samuel Augustus Mitchell Junior, entered the picture. In 1859, S.A. Mitchell Jr. purchased most of the plates back from Desilver and introduced his own floral motif border. From 1860 on, he published his own editions of the New General Atlas. The younger Mitchell became as prominent as his father, publishing maps and atlases until 1887, when most of the copyrights were again sold and the Mitchell firm closed its doors for the final time. More by this mapmaker...
Source
Mitchell, S. A., A New Universal Atlas Containing Maps of the various Empires, Kingdoms, States and Republics Of The World, (Thomas Cowperthwait & Co., Philadelphia) 1854.
The New Universal Atlas is one of the great American atlases of the mid-19th century. Samuel Augustus Mitchell first issued the atlas in 1846 when he acquired the map plates and copyright for Tanner's New Universal Atlas from its publisher, Carey and Hart. The first transitional 1846 edition was published jointly with Carey and Hart, but a second edition was published in the same year with the Tanner imprint erased. This edition of the atlas also introduced the signature S. A. Mitchell green and pink color scheme. Most of the maps from the early editions of the atlas were engraved by H. N. Burroughs or C. S. Williams, often bearing their copyright. Burroughs maps also tended to have what map collector David Rumsey refers to as the 'Cary and Hart' borders, which featured a narrow vine motif. These borders were replaced, along with the Burroughs imprint, with the more traditional Mitchell strap work border used in the atlases until 1856. Mitchell published editions until late in 1850, when he sold the rights to Thomas, Cowperthwait and Company of Philadelphia. Under Cowperthwait, the atlases continued to be published and bear the Mitchell name until 1856, when it the plates were again sold, this time to Charles Desilver. Desilver reworked the plates with new border art and a revised color scheme in the style of J. H. Colton. Desilver issued editions from 1857 to 1860, when the atlas was phased out in favor of Samuel Augustus Mitchell Jr.'s New General Atlas.
Condition
Very good. Overall age toning. Minor spotting at places.
References
Rumsey 3803.073. Phillips (Atlases) 809.