Unusual French map showing the United States on the cusp of the Civil War and dividing the country between the Confederate and Union States.

As well as the Confederate and Union division, there are several other points of geographical and historical interest on this map, particularly in the west. The large Territory of Utah shows a note “Terr. de Nevada,” an early mention the new Territory and a year before its official separation. Utah itself is labelled as the “Pays des Mormons” and also shows the proposed State of Deseret.

Another unusual geo-historical feature is the presence of “Confederate Arizona”, a southern area of New Mexico which attempted to secede from the Union in 1861 and although it was accepted into the Confederacy and nominally existed until 1865, it was brought under Union control in 1862. Unlike the modern vertical border between Arizona and New Mexico, maps with this feature show a horizontal border between the two states. Here it has been separated and labelled as “Terr. d’Arizona”. Although it does feature briefly in maps printed in the United States, this is the first time we have seen this feature on a French map.

On the north of the map, a vast area of western and central Canada is labelled as “Territoire de la Compagnie de la Baie d’Hudson”.

Finally, the map bears an abundance of Native American tribes in Canada and western United States.

A note about the dating of this map must be made. Although it is dated prominently on the cartouche as 1860, a small text panel on the lower left of the map states the southern States seceded from the Union in 1861, meaning that this map was probably printed late of that year or in 1862. It is difficult to know the exact sources for Garnier’s map but it is a remarkably well informed portrayal of the country for the period. Original colour. [USA9774]