John Wilkes
North America, 1815 c
10 x 8 in
26 x 20 cm
26 x 20 cm
AMER2387
Very unusual map of North America showing a clear early English iteration of the Louisiana Purchase. This map was issued in the Encyclopaedia Londinensis, a vast multi volume gazetteer published...
Very unusual map of North America showing a clear early English iteration of the Louisiana Purchase.
This map was issued in the Encyclopaedia Londinensis, a vast multi volume gazetteer published between 1810 and 1829 although individual maps and images would appear previous to these dates. By 1829, the work comprised of twenty-four volumes.
Geographically, this map of North America resembled the shape and geo-politics of several small maps of the continent published after the end of the Seven Years War in 1763. The Treaty of Paris ensured that the former French colonies in the western part of North America, particularly Louisiana, were now administered by Spain. The western border of the United States was the Mississippi River. <br> <br>On this particular example, there is a crucial difference. The colour green, appertaining to the United States, is now shown stretching west of the Mississippi, indicating the purchase of Louisiana by the United States from France.
Although the purchase was ratified by the Senate in 1803, it did not begin appearing regularly on maps until about ten years later, particularly English maps as the English perceived the Louisiana Purchase as inimical to their interests since it helped to finance Napoleon’s armies in Europe. Hence, despite this map being dated 1798 on the lower centre margin, it is more likely to have been in one of the later issues of the Encyclopaedia published c.1815.
The correction of maps via their colouring was a common feature in this period when publishers would try to save the expense of either correcting a plate or even engraving a new one. It was much less expensive to instruct a colourist to indicate geopolitical changes by moving colour boundaries. It is also interesting that this iteration of the Purchase shows its extent as stated on the official documents, which originally defined it as the drainage basin of the Mississippi River. The Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1804-6 re-defined this and ultimately reached the Pacific Northwest coast. This then led to a further dispute between Britain and the United States regarding the border between British Columbia and Oregon which would not be settled until 1846.
Although we have had examples of this map previously, they have shown the western border of the United States as the Mississippi. This is the first time we have seen this particular border configuration on this map.
Original colour. [AMER2387]
This map was issued in the Encyclopaedia Londinensis, a vast multi volume gazetteer published between 1810 and 1829 although individual maps and images would appear previous to these dates. By 1829, the work comprised of twenty-four volumes.
Geographically, this map of North America resembled the shape and geo-politics of several small maps of the continent published after the end of the Seven Years War in 1763. The Treaty of Paris ensured that the former French colonies in the western part of North America, particularly Louisiana, were now administered by Spain. The western border of the United States was the Mississippi River. <br> <br>On this particular example, there is a crucial difference. The colour green, appertaining to the United States, is now shown stretching west of the Mississippi, indicating the purchase of Louisiana by the United States from France.
Although the purchase was ratified by the Senate in 1803, it did not begin appearing regularly on maps until about ten years later, particularly English maps as the English perceived the Louisiana Purchase as inimical to their interests since it helped to finance Napoleon’s armies in Europe. Hence, despite this map being dated 1798 on the lower centre margin, it is more likely to have been in one of the later issues of the Encyclopaedia published c.1815.
The correction of maps via their colouring was a common feature in this period when publishers would try to save the expense of either correcting a plate or even engraving a new one. It was much less expensive to instruct a colourist to indicate geopolitical changes by moving colour boundaries. It is also interesting that this iteration of the Purchase shows its extent as stated on the official documents, which originally defined it as the drainage basin of the Mississippi River. The Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1804-6 re-defined this and ultimately reached the Pacific Northwest coast. This then led to a further dispute between Britain and the United States regarding the border between British Columbia and Oregon which would not be settled until 1846.
Although we have had examples of this map previously, they have shown the western border of the United States as the Mississippi. This is the first time we have seen this particular border configuration on this map.
Original colour. [AMER2387]
