1834 Benard Map of North America

This is an 1835 Benard map of North America created to accompany the Charles Gosselin edition of Alexis de Tocqueville's De la démocratie en Amérique (Democracy in America). Recognized as one of the most important commentaries on the United States, this map emphasizes population disparities within the United States and even separates the southern slave society from the northern free states.

A Closer Look

Depicting North America from the Arctic to southern Mexico, the United States, British America (Canada), and Mexico are labeled. Population statistics are provided for British America, Russian America (Alaska), the United States, and Mexico. The populations of some U.S. states appear as well. Notes along the Atlantic coast highlight Plymouth where the Mayflower landed (here referred to as the Puritans and not by the ship) and Jamestown. A much longer note describes the plains, calling it 'a large desert' where nothing grows and huge herds of bison roam. It also states that small groups of American Indians live out there as well.

Incredible Divisions - Including Slavery

Hand color highlights four different borders important to Tocqueville. Blue outlines the borders of the 13 original colonies, while yellow marks the 'line separating the continent in two' from which water flows either north or south. The most interesting division, however, is the red line that separates slave states from free states. This division is reinforced by population statistics located in the lower right corner. These emphasize the fact that millions more Blacks live in the slave states than in the northern states where slavery had been abolished.

Alexis de Tocqueville and Democracy in America

Alexis de Tocqueville (1805 - 1859) was a French aristocrat, political scientist and philosopher, diplomat, and historian. He was active in French politics during both the July Monarchy and the Second Republic. In 1831, the French government tasked Tocqueville with a mission to the United States to study American prisons and penitentiaries. He spent from May 1831 until February 1832 in the United States, taking copious notes. He and his companion Gustave de Beaumont (a lifelong friend) studied the prison system and (having completed their assignment) then traveled widely throughout the country, studying American culture and society. These travels resulted in De la démocrate en Amérique, which was published in two volumes. The first appeared in 1835 and became an almost instant success. The second volume first appeared in 1840, when the first volume was already in its eighth edition.

Publication History and Census

This map was lithographed by Benard and published in 1835 by Charles Gosselin in a first edition of Alexis de Tocqueville's De la démocratie en Amérique (Democracy in America). Tocqueville's work was published by a few different publishers in 1835, among whom are Gosselin, Éditions Gallimard, and G. Stapleaux, who operated in Brussels. All were published in small runs. Each appears on the modern-day private market occasionally. The entire four volume work regularly garners substantial five figure sums at auction and on the antique market, making acquiring this separate map (which does not appear on the market with any frequency) a scarce opportunity for map collectors. We have been unable to locate any cataloged examples of the Benard edition of the separate map in institutional collections and it rarely appears on the private market.