1853 Andrews Map of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Basin

A rare, beautiful and gigantic map of the St. Lawrence Basin issued in 1852 for Israel de Wolf Andrew's report for the Treasury Department. Depicts the Basin of the St. Lawrence River from the Maritime Provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia westward to include the Great Lakes and then further west to include the Mississippi River. Offers superb detail of the American and Canadian railway network, both extant and proposed, at a critical juncture in U.S. history. More importantly focuses on the canals and waterways between the Atlantic and the Mississippi as a crucial artery of trade with the interior of the U.S. Andrews writes of this map:

An attentive consideration of this new and excellent map is respectfully solicited. It presents many points of interest, exhibiting, as it does, at one view, the mighty St. Lawrence, the chain of 'fresh-water Mediterraneans,' of which it is the outlet, and which are indeed a geographical wonder, as also their position and relation t the States of the West, and the vast and fertile valley of the Mississippi, with the various outlets to the sea, of this valuable section of North America.

This map is also notable for its attention to cities, states and county divisions. An inset in the lower right quadrant shows trade routes across the Atlantic between the U.S. and Europe.

Cartographers

Israel de Wolfe Andrews (1813 - February 17, 1871) was an American consul, special agent, lobbyist, and sometime smuggler. He served as Consul of the United States for Canada and New Brunswick from 1851 to 1854. Little is known of his youth, but from the earliest, his life straddled the border between the United States and British Canada. His birthplace is contested: either he was born in Eastport, Maine, or he was born in New Brunswick, and later naturalized as a United States citizen. He maintained family ties in New Brunswick, however, and these led to an early career as a smuggler. His history appears to have forged in him a strong conviction: that the geographical opportunities afforded by the Mississippi and the St. Lawrence and their reach into the west had been unjustly impeded by the historical accidents that had placed these two arteries in the hands of separate governments, and that these impediments ought to be bypassed (by smuggling) or removed (by political cooperation, ideally by the political unification of the United States and British Canada). His past was shady; he spent time in debtors' prison on more than one occasion. Andrews' appointment as a consul in Saint John in 1843 seems abrupt, unless his role as a smuggler was itself seen as a credential for research on the problems associated with illicit trade across the United States' northern and maritime borders. Almost right away, his regular demands for budget increases as consul and special agent attracted accusations of fraud, until his discovery of a confidential letter concerning British fishing concessions earned him favor with then-Secretary of State and future president James Buchanan. His hand appears everywhere in the eventual creation of the Reciprocity Treaty of 1854. He defined the treaty's content, assisted in its negotiation, and lobbied for its ratification. The American demands of the treaty had been formulated by Andrews as early as 1848, in a letter addressed to Buchanan. He was on hand for drafting the treaty in 1853. Andrews' two reports, in his capacity as a special agent to the Treasury Department,  were intended to rally support in Congress. He caused favorable articles on reciprocity to be published in the press and lobbied executive branch members personally. He also was able to bring pressure to bear on influential people in the British Maritime provinces, including Moses Henry Perley (whose son, Henry F. Perley, produced the map accompanying his 1853 report to Congress). Andrews spent lavishly (lobbying or bribes) to encourage the treaty, between fifty and sixty thousand dollars for the American Government, and forty thousand for the Canadians, which has led contemporaries and historians alike to condemn him as a grifter. The ratification of the treaty led to Andrews' 1855 appointment as American Consul General to the British North American provinces, an office created by the treaty. He would hold the post until his resignation in 1857, thereafter continuing to lobby for the treaty against efforts to terminate it and to promote North American unification. He received an honorary MA from Yale in 1858. He died February 17, 1871, in Boston, reputedly due to alcoholism.   Further Details...

Thomas C. Keefer (fl. 1821 - 1914) was a prominent Canadian railway engineer and civil engineer working in the mid to late 19th century. Keefer held posts as President of Both the Canadian and American Societies of Civil Engineers and has been called the "Dean of Canadian Engineers". Keefer's most important work includes an accurate survey of the St. Lawrence River, significant contributions to both the Erie and Welland Canals, and the construction of the Grand Trunk Railway from Toronto to Kingston. Keefer was a forward thinking environmentalist and, despite working for the railroads, envisioned a day when water power and electric would replace the "poison smoke" of coal.   Further Details...

Source

Communication from the Secretary of the Treasury, transmitting in compliance with a resolution of the Senate of March 8, 1851, the Report of Israel D. Andrews, consul of the United States for Canada and New Brunswick on the Trade and Commerce of the British North American Colonies, and upon the Trade of the Great Lakes and Rivers; also, notices of the internal imporvements in each state, of the Gulf of Mexico and the Straits of Florida, and a Paper on the Cotton Crop of the United States., (1852 editon).    

Condition

Very good condition. Minor discoloration on original folds. Professionally restored and backed with new linen.