This item has been sold, but you can get on the Waitlist to be notified if another example becomes available, or purchase a digital scan.

1864 Mitchell Map of Minnesota

MN-mitchell-1864
$75.00
County Map of Minnesota - Main View
Processing...

1864 Mitchell Map of Minnesota

MN-mitchell-1864


Title


County Map of Minnesota
  1862 (dated)     11 x 13.5 in (27.94 x 34.29 cm)

Description


A beautiful example of S. A. Mitchell Jr.'s 1864 map of Minnesota. Detailed to the county level with attention to American Indian tribes, towns, geographical features, proposed railroads, and cities. Many of the counties of northern and western Minnesota are absent or ill defined. 'Lake of the Woods' and 'Rainy Lake' appear to the north of the map. One of the most attractive atlas maps of this region to appear in the mid 19th century. Features the floral border typical of Mitchell maps from the 1860-65 period. Prepared by W. H. Gamble for inclusion as plate 42 in the 1864 issue of Mitchell's New General Atlas. Dated and copyrighted, 'Entered according to Act of Congress in the Year 1862 by S. Augustus Mitchell Jr. in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the U.S. for 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 New General Atlas, containing Maps of the Various Countries of the World, Plans of Cities, Etc., Embraced in Fifty-three Quarto Maps, forming a series of Eighty-Four Map and Plans, together with Valuable Statistical Tables. (1864 Edition)    

Condition


Very good condition. Minor color degradation on Maryland border. Else clean. Blank on verso.

References


Rumsey 2483.020 (1870 variant). Phillips (Atlases) 831-16. New York Public Library, Map Division, 1510819 .