Items 26–52
1755
TEXAS-LOUISIANA SHEET FROM JOHN
MITCHELL'S
MAP OF THE BRITISH AND FRENCH DOMINIONS
IN NORTH AMERICA
26. [MAP]. [MITCHELL, John].
[Louisiana]. [London, 1755]. Engraved map. 67.5
x 48.5 cm (26-5/8 x 19-1/8 inches). Scale not stated (1
inch = approximately 35-1/2 miles). Center fold and one
small tear on right margin neatly repaired with tissue,
otherwise fine.
First
edition, second issue (MCC 39, 54b) of
Plate 4 of John Mitchell's eight-sheet A Map of the
British and French Dominions in North America, showing
in large scale the area from just east of New Orleans and
the Mississippi River, west to Matagorda Bay and north to
the lower Missouri River. Brown, Early Maps of the Ohio
Valley, p. 96. Cumming 293: "The bibliographical
problems involved in the various editions of this map are
extensive"; pp. 47-49: "Politically and historically, if
not cartographically, the Mitchell map is the most
important in American history." DAB (article on
Mitchell by Lawrence Martin, Chief of the Library of
Congress Map Division 1924-46): "Without serious doubt
Mitchell's is the most important map in American history."
Fite & Freeman, A Book of Old Maps, pp. 181-84,
292-93. Martin & Bemis, "Franklin's Red-Line Map Was a
Mitchell" (New England Quarterly X, p. 105). Ristow,
A la Carte, pp. 102-113 (excellent discussion).
Stevens & Tree, pp. 342-43. Tooley, Landmarks of
Mapmaking, pp. 241-42.
Wheat,
Transmississippi West 135: "The influence of this
celebrated map on other cartographers would be hard to
overestimate.... It became of particular importance during
the negotiations by which the original boundaries of the
United States were established after the Treaty of Peace
with Great Britain"; I, p. 144: "It was in 1755 that John
Mitchell published in London his celebrated 'Map of the
British Dominions in North America,' which became of
paramount importance when the boundaries of the infant
United States were being agreed upon.... The lower Missouri
is shown as a great river, and at the Pawnee villages
Mitchell says 'Thus far the French ascend the
Missouri'...while along the upper river is the legend,
'Missouri River is reckoned to run Westward to the
Mountains of New Mexico, as far as the Ohio does
Eastward'.... There appears on the westernly edge of the
map the important legend, 'The Heads & Sources of these
rivers [apparently referring to the Missouri, the Arkansas
and the Red] and the countries beyond the bounds of this
map are not well known. It is generally allowed to be 18
degrees of Longitude from the Forks of the Missisipi to the
Mountains of New Mexico, whereas it is but 13 degrees from
thence to the Atlantic Ocean: by which we see, that
Louisiana, which was granted by Lewis XIV to N. Mexico, is
much larger West of the Missisipi, than all our Colonies
taken together would be if extended to the Missisipi."
Present-day
Texas is shown as far west as the Guadalupe River (Corpus
Christi, Austin, etc.). North Texas is the western portion
of Louisiana, and South Texas is labeled "Country of the
Cenis." Located are rivers, (Guadalupe, Rio Colorado or
Cane River, Trinidad River, River Maligne or Sabloniere,
Madelaine River, Mexican River, Red River, etc.), roads
("Road to Mexico and Mines of St. Barbe" and
"Road to New Mexico"), Native American tribes (Taijas
[i.e., Tejas], Cenis, Quiches, and many more, including
along the coast "Wandering Savage Indians"), and legends
relating to LaSalle in Texas. Detail along the Mississippi
River is good, particularly at New Orleans. North Texas and
the country north is sketchy.
Like Henry
Popple, the first Englishman to make a serious large-scale
map of America (1733), Mitchell's goal was "to point up the
growing threat to British ambitions of French expansion"
(Edmund & Dorothy Smith Berkeley, John Mitchell: The
Man Who Made the Map of North America [Chapel Hill:
University of North Carolina Press, (1974)], p. 173). This
sheet from Mitchell's landmark map is the best sheet for a
Texas collection, and seldom offered. A set of Mitchell's
eight-sheet map sold at auction in 1998 for $40,000, and
another set sold in 1997 for $39,600. To view the complete
eight-sheet map and read an interesting essay on Mitchell's
map, see the permanent web exhibition/description for the
map prepared by Professor Matthew Edney at the University
of Southern Maine:
http://www.usm.maine.edu/~maps/mitchell/toc.html.
($1,000-2,000)
1757
27. [MAP]. [BELLIN, Jacques N.]. Carte de la
Louisiane et Pays Voisins. Pour servir à l'Histoire
des Etablissemens Europeens. [Paris, 1757-1764?].
Engraved map, with later color wash. 33 in ink at
lower right. 21.2 x 29.6 cm (8-3/8 x 11-5/8 inches). Scale:
1 inch = approximately 50 French leagues. Title within
ornate botanical cartouche. Matted. Very fine.
This finely
engraved and detailed map shows French Louisiana from Fort
Duquêne and East Florida to Santa Fe, New Mexico,
extending to show most of the Great Lakes (see Tooley, "A
Mapping of the Great Lakes" in The Mapping of
America, p. 316n). Located are Native American tribes,
European settlements, missions and forts, etc. The map
appears to be a slightly altered version (dimensions vary a
bit and title changed) of Bellin's map of Louisiana that
appeared in his 1764 Le Petite Atlas Maritime or
perhaps another work. Bellin (1703-1772) spent over fifty
years in the French Hydrographic Service where he was
appointed the first Ingénieur hydrographic de la
Marine and was a member of the Royal Society in
London. He carried out major surveys along the known
coasts of the world, and produced high-quality charts based
on those surveys. See Phillips, America, p. 369
& Atlases 638.
Texas is
shown as the western part of Louisiane and
specifically, Ces Contrées et les Nations
Sauvages sont peu Connues (between the Red River and
Colorado) and Pais de Cenis (near the Trinity).
Being a French map, naturally many place names and
locations are found for La Salle's activities. Detail in
Texas is fairly good, especially the rivers. The legend on
the Colorado River gives an alternate name Riv. aux
Cannes (River of Canes), in reference to its flowing
through a large cane brake at the coast.
($250-500)
1760
28. [MAP]. LONDON MAGAZINE. A New Map of the
River Mississipi from the Sea to Bayagoulas. [London,
1760]. Engraved map with original full color. 18.1 x 24 cm
(7 x 9 inches). Scale: 1-1/2 inches = 15 miles. Decorative
cartouche. Slightly browned. Under glass, matted, black
wooden frame.
Detailed
map of the Delta of the Mississippi River, locating New
Orleans and Lake Pontchartrain. Jolly, Maps of America
in Periodicals Before 1800 179.
($300-500)
29. [MAP]. SAYER, Robert. A New Map of North
America, with the British, French, Spanish, Dutch, &
Danish Dominions on that Great Continent; and the West
India Islands, Done from the Latest Geographers, with Great
Improvements from the Sieurs D'Anville and Robert.
London: Robert Sayer, 1760. Engraved map with original
outline coloring. Two sheets joined at center, measuring
overall 57.3 x 95.3 cm (22-1/2 x 37-1/2 inches). Scale not
stated. Title within large floral motif cartouche at upper
left. Insets of ten plans showing harbors and navigational
directions at lower left: St. John's Harbour;
Boston Harbour; Stats Island [&] P. of Long
Island; Charlestown; Port Royal Harbour; Bay and City of
Havana; Bay of Porto Bella; La Vera Cruz; Cartagena Harbour
and Forts; The Port of Acapulco. Above inset of harbors
is another inset containing text setting forth division and
ownership of the North America continent and islands
by European powers. Copious text on map, including
progress of the French-Indian War, etc. A few short splits
neatly repaired, otherwise fine.
The only
record we find thus far relating to this map is an undated
version in the Library of Congress. Except for the date of
1760 on our copy, it is identical to the LC copy. The
British Library has a copy of the 1763 issue, which has
altered text to indicate the Peace Treaty after the
French-Indian War, etc. Not in Cumming, Karpinski, Lowery,
Phillips, Tooley, Wheat, etc.
Sellers
& Van Ee, pp. 1-2 (citing the LC undated copy in entry
9: "During the first half of the eighteenth century, the
quality of maps of the interior parts of North America
was...poor.... In the decade of the 1750s, however, several
landmark maps appeared.... The reasons for the increased
interest in North American geography and the tremendous
improvement in the quality of maps of the eastern half of
the continent are not hard to find. Once again Great
Britain and France faced the prospect of war over their
territorial claims in the New World. As in all such
struggles, the demand for maps of the war zone increased.
In France, for example, map publishers like Jean Baptiste
Nolin and Maurille Antoine Moithey took advantage of the
situation to produce maps that favored French claims and
denoted the 'pretentions des Anglois,' and in England
mapmakers like John Lodge, Robert Sayer, and Emanuel Bowen
highlighted the 'French Encroachments' in North America for
the English-speaking world."
Mark
Babinski has suggested that the inset maps appear to be
copied from Herman Moll, except for Boston and New York,
which may be from Popple or a great reduction of the charts
found in The English Pilot (in the case of Boston).
In the title, Sayer acknowledges his reliance on Jean
Baptiste Bourguignon d'Anville and Didier Robert De
Vaugondy; the present map may be based in part on Robert de
Vaugondy's Amérique septentrionale...1750
[Paris, 1758]. While the present map is not one of the
landmark maps of the era (Sayer usually drew upon the work
of others), it is a rare and handsome production, being a
large, separately issued map with news of the progress of
the French-Indian War. Extensive text on the face of the
map is decidedly pro-English, including: The French have
stretched their Louisiana on both sides of the Mississipi,
which is another instance of their Incroachment, for they
have no just claim to any part of the Country lying
Eastward of that River... But it is to be hoped that his
British Majesty will no longer be kept unacquainted with
ye Consequence of ye Country lying
between ye British Settlements & ye
Mississipi. Let this not be thought a remote
contingency, for if the French settle on the Back of our
Colonies, ye English must become subject to them
in a little Time.
The
present map has interest for the Transmississippi West,
showing North America from coast to coast. The east is
filled with place names and notes, but the West is rather
sparse. Following D'Anville, Sayer left blank spaces on
this map where knowledge was insufficient. Texas is shown
as part of New Mexico, and located are rivers, Native
American tribes, St. Bernardo Bay, and the island of Saint
Joseph. Upper California is labeled New Albion, and
Baja California is called California. California is
shown as peninsular, and San Francisco designated Port
Sr Francis Drake 1579. Text states:
California was always thought to be an Island, till
Eusebius Francis Kino a Jesuit between the Years 1698 and
1701 discovered it joyned to the Continent, of which the
Royal Society received information in 1708. Burrus,
Kino and the Cartography of Northwestern New Spain,
p. 69: "Printed versions of Kino's 1710 map influenced in
turn the productions of other cartographers [including]
Sayer."
($1,500-3,000)
1761
30. [CITY PLAN]. LONDON MAGAZINE. BENNING, R.
(engraver). Plan of New Orleans the Capital of
Louisiana. [London]: London Magazine, [1761]. Engraved
city plan. 18 x 23 cm (7 x 9 inches). Scale: 1 inch = 480
feet. Fine. Under glass, matted, ornate gilt frame.
An
attractive French colonial view of New Orleans showing
streets and buildings in what is now the French Quarter,
surrounded mainly by swamplands. The only structure outside
the Quarter is a plantation on the road to the Bayou St.
John. Jolly, London Magazine 199. Phillips,
America, p. 496.
($300-600)
1770
SECOND PRINTED MAP TO APPLY THE NAME TEXAS TO A GEOGRAPHICAL REGION
31. [MAP]. ALZATE Y RAMÍREZ, José
Antonio de. Plano de la Nueva España en que se
señalan los viages que hizo el Capitan Hernan
Cortes...año de 1769. [Mexico, 1770]. Copper
engraved map with very subtle pastel outline wash (later?).
34.5 x 44 cm (13-5/8 x 17-1/4 inches). Scale not stated.
Engraved text at upper left regarding New Mexico and
Quivira. At lower left is engraved text giving Cortes'
route on ornate scroll with books, instruments, and charts.
A few expert repairs to folds, generally very fine.
First
printing of one of the most important and handsome maps
of the Gulf Coast printed in the eighteenth century, and
the second printed map to apply the name Texas to a
geographical region. The first printed map with that
distinction was by the same cartographer and pre-dates the
present map by about two years. For an illustration of
Alzate y Ramírez's 1768 map, see Martin & Martin
20 and Wheat, Transmississippi West 149. Because the
1768 map is exceedingly rare, the present map is probably
the first obtainable map to apply the name Texas to
a geographical region.
The present
map extends the Gulf Coast to the vicinity of Pensacola,
while the earlier map shows the Coast only as far east as
the Sabine River. Wheat (Transmississippi West I, p.
134) discusses the sources of Humboldt's famous 1811 map of
New Spain and specifically cites Alzate y Ramírez as
one of his major sources, indicating the importance of this
cartographer's work. The present map appeared in
Lorenzana's Historia de Nueva-Espana.... (Mexico:
Hogal, 1770), the most beautiful book printed in
Mexico in the eighteenth century. See Wagner, Spanish
Southwest 152, Vindel, pp. 267-68, and Winsor II:
209.
($4,000-6,000)
1771
32. [MAP]. LÓPEZ [DE VARGAS MACHUCA],
Tomás. Mapa mundi ó descripción de
todo el mundo, y en particular del globo terrestre sujeto
á las observaciones astronómicas. Por D.
Tómas López, Geografro de los Dominios de S.
M. de la Academia de S. Fernando, Madrid.... Madrid,
1771. Engraved map on heavy paper, later (?) full color,
pastel green wash. 49.4 x 59.7 cm (19-1/2 x 21-9/16
inches). Scale not stated. Double hemisphere map of the
world with highly decorated ornamental cartouche with
scroll and iconography of the arts and religion, fruit and
plants; four spheres below indicating planetary motions
according to Tycho Brahe, Ptolemy, Copernicus, and
Systema Compuesto por Capella. A few short tears
repaired, else fine, with vivid coloring.
A little
known but important Spanish cartographer, López
produced several atlases in the latter half of the
eighteenth century, including Atlas de España
(Madrid, 1757), Atlas de la América Septentrional
(Paris, 1758), Atlas geográfico (Madrid,
1758), Atlas elemental (1792), etc. Palau 140279.
Wagner, Cartography of the Northwest Coast 626.
Locations in Texas and the Southwest that are designated
include El Paso, B. de San Bernardo [Matagorda Bay], Nueva
Orleans, Taos, Santa Fe, "Kanzez," Rio Grande, "Akansas,"
Natchitoches, San Juan, Durango, Casa Grande, etc. Native
tribes, such as Apaches and Osages, are located. Spanish
maps, like this and the Alzate (see Item 31 above) are
exceedingly difficult to locate.
($1,000-2,000)
1780
33. [MAP]. BONNE, [Charles-Marie Rigobert]. Le
Nouveau Méxique avec la partie septentrionale de
l'ancien ou de la Nouvelle Espange. [Geneva]: Bonne,
[1780]. Engraved map. 21.5 x 32.5 cm (8-1/2 x 12-3/4
inches). Scale: 1 inch = approximately 35 Spanish leagues.
At upper left: Liv. VI et X. Creased where formerly
folded into atlas, light marginal browning.
The map,
which includes present-day Southwestern United States, Baja
California, Texas, and the Gulf of Mexico as far southeast
as Pensacola, was plate 28 in Bonne's Atlas de toutes
les parties connues du globe terrestre.... (Geneva: J.
L. Pellet, 1780), engraved by André. The atlas was
published to accompany Guillaume Thomas François
Raynal's L'Histoire philosophique & politique des
établissemens & du commerce des européens
dans les deux Indies. Burrus, Kino and the
Cartography of Northwestern New Spain, Plate XVII &
p. 68 (discussing Bonne's use of Kino's cartographical
data): "The French Navy had its official map-maker called
'Ingénieur-Hydrographe de la Marine.' Monsieur
Charles-Marie Rigobert Bonne was not content with the mere
title, he was a most productive cartographer. In...Le
Nouveau Méxique...the reader can compare element
by element on the pertinent areas to see how closely Bonne
copied Kino's 1710 map. Undoubtedly he used a copy, that of
1724 or some other, for the same misspellings are preserved
and some new ones are added." Lowery 545. Phillips,
Atlases 652.
($125-300)
34. [MAP]. RIZZI-ZANNONI, [Giovanni Antonio].
Carte Geo-Hydrographique du Golfe du Mexique et de ses
Isles.... Paris: [Jean] Lattré, ca. 1780.
Engraved map, original outline color in pink. 31 x 44 cm
(12 x 17-1/4 inches). Scale not stated. Ornate cartouche
with medallion and botanical element at top right. Rhumb
lines. No. 34 at top right. Minor wear and a few
very light stains. Under glass, matted, ornate silver
frame.
This
handsome map, which shows the Gulf of Mexico and the
Caribbean, appeared in Jean Lattré's Atlas
moderne ou collection de cartes sur toutes les parties du
globe terrestre.... (Paris: Lattré et Delalain,
[1762-1783]). Rizzi-Zannoni (ca. 1736-1814), served as
Geographer to the Republic of Venice and later as Chief
Hydrographer of the Dépôt de Marine. He
assisted in a survey of the French-English boundary in
North America in 1757 and created the first modern map of
Naples. Phillips, Atlases 3013.
($400-800)
1787
35. [MAP]. BONNE, [Charles-Marie Rigobert].
L'Ancien et le Nouveau Méxique avec la Floride et
la Basse Louisiane Partie Orientale. [With]:
L'Ancien et le Nouveau Mexique, avec la Floride et la
Basse Louisiane Partie Occidentale. [Paris, 1787-1788].
2 engraved maps printed on good quality rag paper, outline
coloring. Each map measures 34.7 x 23.6 cm (13-3/4 x 9-1/4
inches). Scale: 1 inch = approximately 150 miles. First map
with 115 at upper right; second map with 117.
Creased where formerly folded into atlas, else very fine,
margins untrimmed.
The two
maps, which were engraved by André, probably
appeared in the Atlas encyclopédique put out
by Bonne and N. Desmarest (Paris: Hôtel de Thou,
1787-1788). This atlas was to accompany
Géographie ancienne and Géographie
moderne Volume 92-97 of Encyclopédie
méthodique, published separately until the
complete set appeared. Lowery 675 & 677. Phillips,
Atlases 666. See Item 33 above.
($250-500)
1790
36. [ATLAS]. BRUYSET, Jean-Marie. Atlas des
enfans, ou nouvelle méthode pour apprendre la
geographie, avec un nouveau traite de la sphere, et XXIV
cartes enluminées, nouvelle édition,
corrigée & augmentée. Lyon:
Jean-Marie Bruyset, Pere & Fils, 1790. xvi, 186 pp.,
engraved frontispiece (baby Atlas with giant sphere on
shoulders, background of surveyors ships at sea, and city
view), 24 engraved hand-colored foldout maps, most
measuring approximately 9.1 x 12 cm (3-5/8 x 4-5/8 inches).
16mo, full contemporary tree sheep, spine gilt-lettered and
with red morocco label. Binding worn, scuffed, and chipped,
joints cracked but strong, interior and maps fine.
A charming
petite atlas and geography for children. The first edition
seems to have been as early as 1772 (Amsterdam), with
subsequent editions in 1774 and 1783.
($400-800)
1795
37. [MAP]. KITCHIN, Thomas. Mexico or New
Spain, in which the Motions of Cortes may be traced. For
the Rev. Dr. Robertson's History of America. [London]:
W. Strahan & T. Cadell, 1795. Engraved map. 29 x 39 cm
(11-1/4 x 15-1/4 inches). Scale: 1-3/4 inches = 240 miles.
Inset at lower left: Supplement of the Environs of
Mexico [City]. Title enclosed in floral cartouche,
small compass rose. Two small tears and a small chip on
right edge, otherwise fine.
Burrus,
Kino and the Cartography of Northwestern New Spain,
p. 69 (discussing the influence of Kino's revolutionary map
on subsequent cartographers): "Thomas Kitchin in various
editions of Robertson's History of America [is]
almost identical with Bonne's production [see Item 33
above]; Kitchin, however, did not copy Bonne, if the
configuration of Lower California is a decisive element.
All of the islands keep the names Kino gave them." Howes
R358. Wheat, Transmississippi West 172: (referring
to 1777 edition): "This map was used to illustrate William
Robertson's History of America, and was again used
in the 1795 and 1812 editions.... It is of interest largely
for its paucity of information, though it does concede
California to be a peninsula. The Pimería and New
Mexico areas are fairly well drawn, though with little
detail, and east of New Mexico, as far as the Akansas (sic)
River, is a wide white area labeled 'Great Space of Land
Unknown.'" According to Hill (p. 254), the maps to
accompany the first edition of Robertson's book were not
finished in time to be included in the first edition.
($150-300)
1796
38. [SURVEY MAP]. MARTIN, Gilbert. Untitled
original manuscript survey map of the farms belonging to
Jacob Badows(?) and Joseph Hyatts in Louisiana. N.p., 1796.
Manuscript map in sepia ink and yellow wash. 28.6 x 42.5 cm
(11-1/4 x 16-3/4 inches). Scale: 1 inch = 25 pearches.
Survey of farms by the request of David Montross. Compass
rose. Some minor browning and small stains, a few splits
and creases at folds. Under glass, modern gilt frame.
The map
shows an area probably just below New Orleans, on Bayou
Jean Lafitte.
($250-500)
1800
RARE PROTOTYPE SEA CHART OF TEXAS & THE GULF COAST
39. [MAP]. FRANCE. DÉPÔT
GÉNÉRAL DE LA MARINE. Carte des
côtes du Golfe du Mexique compris entre la pointe sud
de la presqu'Ile de la Floride et la pointe nord de la
presqu'Ile d'Yucatan: Dresée d'après le
observations et las plans des espagnols, et publièe
par ordre du Minstre de la Marine et des Colonies, au
Depôt Général de la Marine An IX.
Paris, 1800. Engraved map on heavy rag paper. 59.1 x 90 cm
(23-1/4 x 35-1/2 inches). Scale not stated. At foot, below
neat line at left: Gravé par E. Collin, et
éscrit par Besançon. Title within oval at
top. Insignia of French Hydrography Office at lower left.
Rhumb lines. Minor repair at upper center fold, otherwise
very fine.
First
French edition of "the first printed [map] to show
and name Galveston Bay" (Taliaferro) and "the first
large-scale printed chart of Texas and the Gulf Coast based
on actual soundings and explorations" (Martin &
Martin); the first printing of this handsome chart appeared
in Madrid in 1799; the present French version quickly
followed, appearing in J. N. Bellin et al., Hydrographie
Françoise; all versions of this chart are
exceedingly rare. Lowery 721n. Phillips, Atlases
590. Taliaferro (in a private communication commented):
"The French edition is virtually identical to the Spanish
of the preceding year, but is more finely engraved. The
Carta esférica is one of the most important
maps for the history of Texas. For the first time, the
Texas coast was mapped from actual survey, and the chart
was the first in print to show and name Galveston Bay....
Later map makers who made use of the chart in one fashion
or another included Alexander von Humboldt and John Melish,
and it was not until the publication of Austin's map in
1830 that the configuration introduced on the Carta
esférica was superceded. Both the Spanish and
French editions are very scarce. Streeter located just
eight copies of the [various issues] of the Spanish edition
and four copies of the French among seventy-six important
institutional collections that he surveyed. Streeter
locates no copies of the French edition in Texas.
"In 1783
the interim governor of Spanish Louisiana, Bernardo de
Gálvez, commissioned one of his lieutenants,
José Antonio de Evía, to explore and map the
entire northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico, from West
Florida to Tampico. After a false start in 1783,
Evía set out in 1785 and explored the coasts and
bays of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas,
and Mexico, reaching Tampico in September 1786. Along the
way he explored San Bernardo Bay and took detailed
soundings of Galveston Bay, which he named for his patron,
who had by then been named viceroy of Mexico. More than a
decade after Evía's careful explorations, his charts
and sketches formed the basis for a new map of the Gulf
Coast issued at the request of Don Juan Francisco de
Lángara y Huarte, the Spanish secretary of state and
of the navy. Published in 1799, the Carta
esférica que comprende las costas del Seno
Mexicano represented an important advance in
geographical knowledge and remained for many years the
prototype for maps of the Gulf." Martin & Martin 22A
(citing the Madrid 1799 printing).
Streeter
1030 (locating four copies: Library of Congress, Harvard,
New York Public Library, and the British Museum): "The
[French edition] seems almost identical with the
Depósito Hidrográfico chart of 1799 [Streeter
1029] as far as the Texas coast line and rivers are
concerned. On this chart Passe del Caballo is shown twice,
the name for the lower pass, perhaps an error, being new on
this chart." Streeter in the introduction to the second
part of his bibliography of Texas (p. 329) designates the
1799 Spanish version of this map (three copies located) as
one of the six maps especially desirable for a Texas
collection, commenting that in the final years of the
eighteenth century "even the coast line of Texas was little
known and its delineation by...a chart of the
Depósito Hidrográfico de Marina of Spain
entitled Carta esférica que comprende las costas
del Seno Mexicano...represents a real advance. It is
the first of two or three early maps showing the Texas
coast line and the lower courses of its rivers. This
Carta esférica was one of the authorities
used by Humboldt in constructing his highly acclaimed
Carte Générale du Royaume de la Nouvelle
Espagne [see Item 41 below]."
($6,000-12,000)
1807
40. [MAP]. GARCÍA CONDE, Diego. Plano
general de la Ciudad de Mexico levantado por el Teniente
Coronel de Dragones Don Diego García Conde en el
año de 1793, y grabado en el año de 1807. De
orden de la misma Nobilísima Ciudad. [Mexico,
1807]. Copper-engraved wall map within restrained botanical
border, mounted on later linen with dark brown heavy
grosgrain silk ribbon reinforcement along all edges, upper
and lower edges mounted on later wooden rollers (upper
roller is a decorative cornice). 147.6 x 197.6 cm (58-1/8 x
77-13/16 inches). Scale: One inch = approximately 100
Spanish varas. Oversize ornate cartouche at top (drapery
and architectural devices, medallions illustrating royal
arms of Spain and Mexico City, text below). Two vignettes
at lower left: Vista I. De levante desde el camino nuevo
de Vera-Cruz. [and] Vista II. De Poniente desde el
camino de Chapultepec. Between the views is a legend
enclosed within botanical border (locations keyed to
numbers). Lower right: Dn. Rafael Ximeno y Planes,
Director Gral. de la Rl. Academia de Sn. Cárlos de
esta capital de México, dibujó las vistas y
adornos. D Manuel López pensionado que fue del
grabado en la misma R. Academia y tambien, por esta N C lo
estampo. Dn. Josef Joaquín Fabregat, Director del
grabado en lámina de la misma Real Academia, lo
grabo. Large table in eight columns at right (streets
and other features keyed to numbers and letters). Scale
decorated with swags at lower right. The map is varnished
(as was customary for wall maps of the nineteenth century),
resulting in the typical amber patina with some cracking. A
conservator has examined the map, and the varnish is a type
that can be removed. Moderate rubbing, cracks, and
occasional minor losses (affecting only blank margins), due
to rolling and unrolling over time. The map was printed on
nine individual copper-plates, and there is some splitting
at the junctures of the nine sheets. Despite these flaws,
inherent due to the nature of wall maps and their use, this
map is in remarkable condition.
First
and only printing in large format (the plates for this
map were destroyed and lost, but the map was republished in
much smaller format in London in 1811, and again in New
York in 1830. Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, El
Territorio Mexicano II, p. 761 (illustrated). Mayer,
Poblaciones Mexicanos: Planos y panoramos siglos XVI al
XIX, pp. 76-77 (illustrated): "This is probably the
most important plan that had been drawn up of Mexico City
in the nineteenth century not only for its size, which made
it necessary to use nine large plates and to join the nine
resulting sheets of paper from its printing, but for the
excellence of the artists involved in drawing and engraving
it. This plan became the source to many others because it
was copied and updated by several authors and editors."
Museo Nacional de Historia Castillo de Chapultepec,
Mapas y Planos de México Siglos XVI al XIX,
p. 125. Palau 98695 (incorrectly ascribing the map to Pedro
García Conde).
This
grandiose map of one of the greatest cities in the world is
exceedingly rare. The only copy we locate in the United
States is in the Bancroft Library at the University of
California (Berkeley). In Mexico, we found two copies, one
at the Museo de la Ciudad de Mexico (Orozco y Berra copy),
and another in a private collection. The British Library
owns a copy.
The
original survey for this map of Mexico City took place in
1793, during the viceregal administration (1789-1794) of
the energetic and efficient Conde de Revillagigedo. His
administration, one of the most progressive of the colonial
era, resulted in urban development and renewalincluding
construction and renovation of numerous public buildings
and parks, improved sanitation, lighting, and security,
construction of roads and streets, and establishment of
professional schools (such as the Academy of San Carlos,
where this map was produced). The map, conceived and
created at one of the best moments in the history of Mexico
City, is also one of the most unusual examples of Mexican
printingnothing of that size had ever been engraved in
Mexico before.
This map
was the combined creation of a noteworthy cartographer, a
talented, influential engraver, and a highly skilled
artist. The mapmaker was Diego García Conde
(1760-1822), a native of Barcelona, who came to Mexico and
served as captain of the Spanish Dragoons in Mexico and
fought the insurgents during the War of Independence.
García Conde supervised several complex construction
projects, including the road from Veracruz to Jalapa. In
1822 he was named Director General of the Corps of
Engineers and founded the Academy of Cadets. Dicc.
Porrúa (p. 1156) specifically mentions the
present map as one of his great achievements: "Su nombre
está ligado a la historia de la cd. de
México, por el magnífico plano que
levantó de metrópoli in 1793." Palau and
Tooley (Dictionary of Mapmakers) combines in one
entry Diego García Conde and an entirely different
mapmaker, Pedro García Conde (see The Handbook of
Texas Online for details on Pedro García Conde
[1806-1851], commissioner of the Mexican Boundary Survey in
1848).
The
engraver of the map was José Joaquín Fabregat
(1748-1807), a native of Valencia. In 1787, the Spanish
crown named Fabregat Director of Engraving at the Royal
Academy of San Carlos in Mexico City. Here Fabreget
instituted the highest standards for printing and
engraving, introducing the most advanced techniques from
Europe. The recognition of engraving as an art and royal
patronage led to unprecedented expansion of the arts
outside of Madrid. Among those participating in this
flourishing era of engraving was Rafael Jimeno y
Planés (1759-1825), the Valencia artist who created
the exquisite vignettes at the lower section of this map.
Jimeno y Planés studied at the Academy of San
Carlos, and also in Rome and Madrid. In 1798 he became
Director of Painting at the Academy of San Carlos in
Mexico, and subsequently Director General. Jimeno created
the engravings for the 1780 edition of Don Quijote,
the famous engraving of the Plaza Mayor de México
(adapted by Humboldt), grand murals, and fine oil
paintings. An article on Jimeno y Planes appears in
Dicc. Porrúa. For additional information on
Fabreget, see Tooley, Dictionary of Mapmakers (1979
edition) and Dicc. Porrúa (p. 1046).
($30,000-$60,000)
1811
"WITHOUT QUESTION THE BEST
REPRESENTATION OF TEXAS
THAT HAD THUS FAR APPEARED"
— STREETER
41. [ATLAS & TEXT]. HUMBOLDT, Alexander von.
Essai Politique sur le Royaume de la
Nouvelle-Espagne.... Paris: F. Stône, 1811. [12]
xcii [2] iv [3]-350 [6] + [8] [351]-868 [8] [869]-905 [1]
pp. 2 vols., 4to, contemporary calf over later boards
(corners renewed), black gilt-lettered spine labels.
[With]: Atlas geographique et physique du Royaume de la
Nouvelle-Espagne.... Paris: G. Dufour et
Cie., 1812. iv [4] pp., 20 engraved maps and
plates on heavy rag paper (many double-page, some with
several maps per sheet, most of the plates in sepia tone).
Three of the maps are of particular interest for the
Transmississippi West: (1) four segments on two sheets:
Carte Générale du Royaume de la Nouvelle
Espagne depuis le parallele de 16° jusqu'au parallele
de 38° (Latitude Nord) dressée sur des
observations astronomiques et sur l'ensemble des
matériaux qui existoient à Mexico, au
commencement de l'année 1804.... Measuring
overall 100 x 70 cm (39-1/2 x 27-1/2 inches), with keyed
location symbols at lower left for cities, villages, mines,
haciendas, ranches, presidios, etc.; (2) Carte du
Mexique et des pays limitrophes situés au Nord et
à l'est dressée d'apres la grande carte de la
Nouvelle-Espagne.... 40.5 x 71 cm (15-7/8 x
17-15/16 inches); (3) Carte de la route que
mène depuis la capitale de la Nouvelle Espagne
jusqu'à S. Fe de Nouveau Mexique.... Tall folio,
recent three-quarter tan levant morocco over brown
paper-covered boards, spine with raised bands and black
gilt-lettered calf labels. Text vols. have fresh
pastedowns, all plates in Atlas reattached to new
stubs, occasional minor spotting or light staining, second
text vol. title with slight abrasion to right blank margin.
Overall a fine, complete set, with all the half-titles,
plates, and maps, which are in excellent impressions.
First
French edition, second issue, identical to the first
issue (also published in 1811) with the exception of
printer's name being added to title (a German edition was
published in Tubigen, 1809-14, with less plates and maps).
Graff 2009-10. Howes H786: "Of superlative California
importance." Martin & Martin, 23 & pp. 19, 32: "A
noteworthy turning point in the cartographic history of
Texas occurred in 1810, when the great European savant,
Alexander von Humboldt, had been a guest of the Spanish
government in Mexico.... His semi-official status provided
him access to many confidential sources, and among the
works his stay produced was a large map of New Spain.
Although he left Mexico in 1804, the map was not published
until 1810, when it appeared with his Political Essay on
the Kingdom of New Spain.... Humboldt was, without
question, the dominant scientific and philosophical figure
of his age.... Humboldt's Essai Politique...was one
of the first to establish the field of geography as a
modern science.... Humboldt's map [of New Spain] has been
termed a magnificent cartographic achievement, which in its
depiction of the West it surely is."
Plains
& Rockies IV:7a:3 & 7a:3a:l: "Humboldt's
discussions of California, New Mexico, Texas and Northern
Mexico are detailed and thorough, containing much data that
had never before appeared in print." Printing & the
Mind of Man 320n. Schwartz & Ehrenberg, Plate 139
& p. 127: "Humboldt's map remained the standard map of
the Great Basin region until Frémont's expeditions
thirty-five years later." Raines, p. 121. Streeter 1042
(rating Humboldt's map as one of the six most important
maps for a Texas collection; see p. 329 in Streeter):
"In speaking of the Texas coast line, Humboldt says, 'I
have followed...the map of the gulph of Mexico, published
by order of the King of Spain in 1799' [see Item 39
above]...and adds that he made some corrections in fixing
of longitudes.... [Humboldt's map] is without question the
best representation of Texas that had thus far appeared."
Wheat, Transmississippi West, 272-75, 302-305 &
pp. 132-38: "[A] truly magnificent cartographic
achievement." See Martin & Martin, Streeter, and Wheat
for more on the cartographical controversy that arose over
the priority of Humboldt, Pike, and Arrowsmith. Streeter
maintains that the Humboldt map dates from 1809.
($25,000-35,000)
View two more
illustrations of this item>
42. [MAP]. PINKERTON, John. Spanish Dominions
in North America Northern Part. London: Cadell &
Davies, 1811. Engraved map, original outline coloring. 50.5
x 70.2 cm (19-7/8 x 27-5/8 inches). Scale: 1 inch =
approximately 65 miles. Legend. Creased where formerly
folded into atlas.
This map,
which appeared in Pinkerton's 1815 Modern Atlas,
closely follows the Humboldt-Pike-Arrowsmith conformation.
Phillips, Atlases 724.
($600-1,200)
43. [MAP]. STREIT, F. W. Charte von dem
Nordamericanischen Staatenbunde.... Leipzig, [1811].
Engraved map, original outline coloring corresponding to
keyed color chart and numbers at top right. 38.5 x 47 cm
(15-1/4 x 18-1/2 inches). Scale: 1 inch = approximately 140
miles. Creased where formerly folded, a few repairs to
short marginal tears, moderately browned and chipped at
lower right edge (no losses).
Viennese
cartographer Streit shows Texas outlined in pink and in a
really odd shapewithout the big bend in the Rio Grande and
a widened Panhandle that narrows at the 40th parallel and
then shoots off northwest to north of Salt Lake. Keyed
locations for cities, villages, forts, Native American
lands, universities, waterfalls, roads, etc. States and
territories are numbered rather than named, and colored in
outline to correspond to the key at top right. Streit, who
served as an engineer in the Prussian artillery, was a
mathematician and military cartographer.
($600-1,200)
1812
FRENCH PIKE IN ORIGINAL WRAPPERS
44. [BOOK]. PIKE, Zebulon M. Voyage au
Nouveau-Mexique...Orné d'une Nouvelle Carte de la
Louisiane, en trois parties.... Paris: Chez d'Hautel,
1812. xiv [2] 368 + 373 pp., 3 folding, engraved maps on
heavy rag paper: (1) Première partie de la carte
de l'intérieur de la Louisiane, Par. Z. M. Pike.
(Voyez les indications sur la Planche IIe)
[at foot: Réduit sur une échelle d'un
pouce pour 40 miles, par Antoine Nau. 43.5 x 45 cm
(16-15/16 x 17-3/4 inches); (2) Carte de
l'intérieur de la Louisiane, comprenant tous les
pays jusqu'alors inconnus, entre la Rivière Plate,
au N. la Rivière Rouge, au S. le Mississippi
à l'E. et les Montagnes du Mexique à l'O.
Avec une partie du Nouveau Mexique et de la Province de
Texas, par le Major Z. M. Pike. 43 x 38 cm (16-7/8 x
14-15/16 inches); (3) Carte du Mississippi, depuis sa
Source jusqu'à l'embouchure du Missouri;
dressée d'après les notes de A. M. Pike, par
Antoine Nau; réduite et corrigée
d'après les observations de M. Thompson à sa
source, et du Capitaine M. Lewis à son confluent
avec le Missouri, par Nicolas King. 22.5 x 70 cm (8-7/8
x 27-5/8 inches). 2 vols., 8vo, original plain mauve
wrappers, printed paper spine labels. Lower wrap of Vol. 1
torn, Vol. 2 lacking lower wrap. Occasional marginal
browning and slight wear, but a beautiful, uncut set in
original state in the rare wrappers with printed paper
labels. Preserved in a half crimson morocco box and
matching chemises.
First
French edition of Pike's classic account of the first
U.S. government expedition to the Southwest (first edition,
Philadelphia, 1810). M. Breton translated the better
arranged English edition of 1811 into French. The important
maps are corrected and improved; of all the editions of
Pike, the maps in this French edition are the most
beautifully engraved and on the best quality paper.
Basic Texas Books 163C: "Pike's narrative marks the
beginning of serious American interest in Texas." Coues,
Pike I: xl-xliii. Howes 373. Martin & Martin
24n: "Pike's map, unlike Humboldt's, was based primarily on
firsthand reconnaissance, an element always present in the
progress of geographic knowledge of the American West."
Plains & Rockies IV:9:3. Raines, p. 165.
Streeter
1047C (on pp. 327-28, Streeter rates Pike's account as one
of the top forty books for a Texas collection): "This
famous book is included here because of Pike's account...of
his journey across Texas from the Rio Grande to the Sabine
in June, 1807, and his description of Texas.... Pike's
account of the journey and of the week he spent at San
Antonio, where he was handsomely entertained by the Spanish
officials, makes interesting reading. The description of
Texas is excellent...and the Sibley account of the Red
River region seems to be the first in English. Humboldt's
charges that his Carte Générale...de la
Nouvelle Espagne [see Item 41 herein] was copied by
Pike in the maps of Mexico accompanying his
Account...are justified as far as the Mexican
portion of the Carte Générale is
concerned, but not for the Texas portion. There, far from
copying Humboldt, Pike's representation of Texas rivers is
considerably better than Humboldt's and his treatment of
the Texas coast line much inferior.... Not only are the
Texas portions of the Pike maps an improvement on Humboldt,
but their legends are of great interest." See Wheat
(Transmississippi West 296, 297, 398) for citation
of Pike's maps from the Philadelphia 1810 edition. See also
Wheat's chapter XII, "Pike Maps the Southwest."
($4,000-6,000)
1814
45. [MAP]. THOMSON, John. Spanish North
America. [Edinburgh]: John Thomson & Co, 1814.
Engraved map, original hand-coloring and outlining. 51 x
61.6 cm (20-1/8 x 24-1/4 inches). Scale: 1 inch = 80 miles.
Some minor staining and chipping to blank margins.
This
Humboldt-Pike type map of New Spain appeared as Map No. 58
in Thomson's New General Atlas (1814). Phillips,
Atlases 731n (citing the 1817 edition). The
cartographer understandably felt conflicted about the area
that is now Texas, but to cover all bases, he labeled
various parts of Texas (often overlapping) as: Louisiana,
Coahuila, S. Louis Potosi, New Santander, and Bolson de
Mapimi. Taliaferro 206. Wheat, Transmississippi West
II, p. 15: "Beautiful but inexcusably outdated in light of
what was to occur that very year when Lewis and Clark's
great map was published.... Until [Lewis and Clark's map],
no cartographer could do more than add a few wild guesses
to maps stemming from a period then long past"; 320: "This
map seems largely based on the maps of Humboldt and Pike,
including the country as far north as the latter's 'Highest
Peak.'"
($350-700)
1816
46. [MAP]. [ARROWSMITH, A. & S. Lewis
(attrib.)]. Spanish Dominions in North America.
[London: Arrowsmith, 1816]. Engraved map, original full
color. 20.3 x 25.4 cm (8 x 10 inches). Scale not stated.
Upper right corner: Vol. III page 135. Trimmed
close.
The
attribution of cartographer and date on this map are from
the dealer from whom it was purchased, and perhaps
erroneous. In its layout, this map appears to be a small
format version of Items 42 (Pinkerton) and 45 (Thomson)
above, but without the rich detail of either, or their
sources (Humboldt-Pike). Texas is applied to the region as
a name, however, a trend which usually does not occur until
a decade or so after 1816.
($50-100)
1817
47. [MAP]. [CAREY, Mathew]. Louisiana.
[Philadelphia, 1817]. Engraved map, original outline
coloring in pink, yellow, and green. 39 x 43 cm (15-3/8 x
16-7/8 inches). Scale: 1 inch = 20 miles. Delicately
engraved scroll work around title. Other than very faint
browning, very fine. Under glass, matted, modern wooden
frame.
The map is
No. 26 from Carey's General Atlas, Improved and
Enlarged: Being a Collection of Maps of the World and
Quarters, Their Principal Empires, Kingdoms, &c....
Phillips, Atlases 4311.
($400-800)
1818
ONE OF THE VERY EARLIEST TEXAS LITHOGRAPHS
48. [PRINT: CHAMP D'ASILE]. VERNET, [Emile Jean]
Horace. [Paris, 1818]. Lithograph (Champ d'Asile colonists
in the Texas wilderness, soldier in foreground leaning on
shovel at a new campsite, others behind working, cabins in
distance at left, ships at sea in background at right). 16
x 22.9 cm (6-1/4 x 9 inches). Lower right: Lith. de G.
Engelmann. Signed in print at center below image:
Horace Vernet. Light uniform age-toning, short clean
tear to blank right margin.
This
lithograph is among the earliest lithographs of a scene in
Texas. French artist Vernet (1789-1863) depicts a scene
from the short-lived settlement of Napoleonic exiles who
were ultimately expulsed from their colony site on the
Trinity at the far reaches of the Spanish frontier. See
Item 49 below for more on the Champ d'Asile Colony. The
print apparently was the cover for sheet music (not
present) entitled Le Champ d'Asile Romance with
lyrics by A. Beraud and music by G. Kuhn. The print was
created to raise funds to assist the ill-fated colonists
who were stranded in Texas after expulsion by Spanish
authorities. Streeter (1071) dated the piece as 1819, but
David Lavender was able to fix the date of publication in
1818. Lavender located an announcement of publication of
the sheet music in the November 1818 issue of La Minerve
Française.
Ron Tyler,
in his preliminary research on nineteenth-century
lithographs of Texas notes that the four earliest
lithographs of Texas (all of which relate to Champ d'Asile)
were created in 1818. Tyler comments: "Published for the
benefit of the refugees by M. Ladvocat...the lithographic
cover...appears to be the most realistic image of all the
Champ d'Asile pictures, because the camp is clearly an area
of construction, not the idyllic or romantic environment
shown in the other prints." Streeter (1071) located only
one copy (his own copy, now at Yale), but Tyler found
additional copies at the University of North Texas in
Denton, New York Public Library (image only), and the Bayou
Bend Collection (Houston). See also Item 51 herein.
($2,000-4,000)
1819
NAPOLEONIC EXILES ON THE TRINITY
RIVER
WITH ENGRAVED PLAN OF THE COLONY
49. [BOOK]. HARTMANN, L. & MILLARD. Le
Texas, ou notice historique sur le Champ d'Asile....
Paris: Béguin, 1819. [10] ix [1] [11]-135 pp.,
folding engraved frontispiece plan of fort: Champ
D'Asile. 16.5 x 23.8 cm (6-1/2 x 9-3/8 inches). 12mo,
modern navy blue morocco over marbled boards, spine
gilt-lettered and ruled. Expertly restored (some leaves and
plate neatly reinforced and cleaned). Half-title verso with
certification statement signed by author Hartmann and
publisher Béguin.
First
edition. Basic Texas Books 85: "Best
contemporary account of the ill-fated colony of Napoleonic
refugees in Texas. Of the four accounts by contemporaries,
Thomas W. Streeter calls this one 'an indispensable source
and by far the best of the group.' Besides giving an
eyewitness account of one of the most fascinating events in
Texas history, it includes much valuable information on
Texas during a period that still remains historically
clouded. Lallemand, in founding Champ d'Asile near
present-day Liberty, intended to start a massive French
colony which might ultimately begin a movement to win the
throne of Mexico for Joseph Bonaparte. The group of about
150 colonists landed at Galveston on January 14, 1818, and
sailed up the Trinity River on March 20 to build their
colony. Attempts were made to make peace with Jean Laffite,
whose pirate band was then operating out of Galveston. When
the Spanish governor of Texas sent a force against the
colonists, they abandoned the settlement in late July and
retreated to Galveston. They were saved from starvation by
Laffite, who helped them get to New Orleans. Although
attempts were made to renew the colony, the project
languished."
Eberstadt
162:386: "Streeter calls the book...the most sought after
of those 'relating to that colorful episode in Texas
history.'" Fifty Texas Rarities 6. Howes H270.
Monaghan 792. Rader 1807. Raines, p. 109. Sabin 30706.
Streeter 1069: "This is the second of the three books
relating to the Champ d'Asile published in Paris in
1819.... Le Texas, which is in the form of two
diaries, the first at pages [11]-111 by Hartmann and the
second, pages 112-132, by Millard, is the only one of the
three to give a brief but more or less consecutive account
of the founding of the colony, the life there, the retreat
to Galveston, and the dispersal of the colonists to the
four winds." Ron Tyler, in his preliminary research on
nineteenth-century lithographs of Texas notes the four
earliest lithographs of Texas (all of which relate to Champ
d'Asile) were created in 1818.
($4,000-8,000)
ONE OF THE 50 TEXAS
RARITIES
WITH THE TARDIEU MAP
50. [BOOK]. L'H[ÉRITIER], L[ouis]
F[rançois]. Le Champ-d'Asile, Tableau
Topographique et Historique du Texas...seconde
édition, augmentée...et accompagnée
d'une Carte du Texas.... Paris: Ladvocat, 1819. xvi,
247 pp., folding engraved map: Le Champ-d'Asile ou carte
des établissements fondés dans
l'Amérique Septentrionale par les
Réfugiés Français d'abord au Texas, et
actuellemt. au
Tombechbé. Dessinée par Ladvocat
d'après les Matériaux qui ont
été envoyés par un des principaux
Colons. Mars 1819. Gravé par B. Tardieu. T. Pelicier
scr. á Paris, chez Ladvocat.... 28.3 x
43.7 cm (11-1/4 x 17-1/8 inches). Scale: 1 inch =
approximately 75 miles. Inkstamp of publisher at lower
margin of map (as in the copy at the Center for American
History, UT Austin). 12mo, contemporary brown speckled calf
over tan boards, spine gilt stamped, scarlet leather label.
Binding slightly rubbed and spine label chipped, top of
upper joint weak, otherwise fine, with small contemporary
French library ink stamp on title page. Neat ink notes of a
French collector on front free endpaper (dated 1929).
First
edition, third and best issue, with the added text and
the map which did not accompany the first and second
issues. Barbier 557. Fifty Texas Rarities 6: "[One
of] the principal sources for the history of the
unsuccessful French colony of Napoleonic exiles in Texas."
Graff 2487. Howes L329. Raines, p. 109n.
Streeter
1072B: "Though...there is additional preliminary material
in the later issue of the first edition [which did not have
the map] and in the second edition, the main text of 247
pages is the same in all three.... A fanciful and idealized
account of the Champ d'Asile, with much padding. Chapter
XII gives an extensive account of the laws said to have
been adopted by the colonists, and at page 44-47 is the
text of the Manifesto of May 11, 1818. Chapters
II-IX, pages 25-149, are mostly an account of
Texas...perhaps the lengthiest to its date in book form....
The sixteen new preliminary pages in the later issues
briefly announce the destruction of the colony...and report
at some length on the opportunities offered the Champ
d'Asile refugees at the first settlement of the French
exiles at Tombigbee in Alabama. Various misstatements, some
extraordinary, such as that the United States, which was
then claiming all of Texas, had granted the colonists 'le
territoire entier du Texas...reconnaissant e adoptant les
colons pour alliés'...that General Lallemand had
just established a school at Nacogdoches...and that several
dances had been given 'auquels ont assisté tous les
habitans de San-Antonio de Bejar'.... L'Héritier was
a French soldier and writer who took an active part as
editor of liberal journals.... One reference book refers to
him as 'publiciste et romancier.'" Vandale 102.
The
excellent map, engraved on good heavy French rag paper in
the elegant Humboldt style, shows Texas and the Gulf Coast
to Florida, with good detail, locating Champ d'Asile with a
marker with flag (Colonie Française fondée
par les Fréres Lallemant), missions, presidios,
native tribes, etc. This book is said to be one of the
first printed books to contain the word "Texas" in its
title.
($5,000-10,000)
EARLY ENGRAVING OF TEXAS — NAPOLEONIC EXILES
51. [PRINT: CHAMP D'ASILE]. GARNERAY, [Ambroise
Louis (artist & engraver)]. 2eme Vue
d'Aigleville, Colonie du Texas ou Champ d'Asile.
Rivière de la Trinité, Fort Charles....
Paris: Basset, [1819]. Aquatint engraving (romanticized
scene of Champ d'Asile with colonists dressed in elegant
Regency mode, French soldiers in full military uniform, new
arrivals being welcomed with open arms, colonists in
background constructing Fort Charles and a home for General
Rigaud on the palm-tree lined Trinity River with lofty[!]
mountains in the background). 27.5 x 33.3 cm (10-7/8 x
13-1/8 inches). A few tears in blank margins neatly mended,
some soiling and spotting (mainly confined to blank
margins), generally very good.
Garneray's
beautiful print is one of the earliest engravings of a
scene or subject related to Texas (in his preliminary
survey of Texas engravings, Dr. Kelsey locates only about
six earlier prints, and only one of the nineteenth century
images is earlier, a portrait of Z. M. Pike from the 1810
edition of his book). This print, like Item 48 above, was
created by French artist Garneray (1783-1837) to raise
funds for the ill-fated Champ d'Asile colonists. Pinckney,
Painting in Texas, pp. 11-12: "Among the earliest
and most significant prints depicting Texas in the very
early years of its settlement [representing] Garneray's
precise and masterly designing [and] some of the best
craftsmanship of the high period in French engraving. They
suggest all the romance, the excitement, and the dauntless
spirit of the French temperament, but on retrospection they
reveal the tragedy and shortsightedness of those who
prompted the settlement." See The Handbook of Texas
Online (Garneray Family & Champ d'Asile), where the
Colony is characterized as "a motley mingling of French
exiles, Spaniards, Poles, Mexicans, and Americans, with a
sprinkling of former pirates...more occupied with military
exercises and hunting than with cultivation of the
soil."
Tyler,
Prints of the American West, pp. 28-30
(illustrated): "The [colony] was never well organized, and
its leaders suffered from the naive delusion that the few
Spaniards in Texas would welcome them. Champ d'Asile ended
ignominiously on July 23, 1818, when Lallemand ordered the
dispirited soldiers to strike camp rather than stay and
engage the Spanish force that he had heard was en route to
expel them. Most of them returned to New Orleans. In the
meantime, publication of Lallemand's manifesto in France
inspired liberals to characterize the filibusters as heroes
and to raise money for their aid. Envisioning heroic war
veterans safe in the land of the noble savage, artists,
poets, musicians, and publishers joined forces to produce
illustrated sheet music, theatrical performances, books,
pamphlets, and prints of various kinds. Famous for his
Napoleonic military art, Horace Vernet [see Item 48 above]
was one of several artists who produced drawings for the
handsome lithographs and engravings depicting idealized
scenes of the colonists at home in Spanish Texas. With no
authentic published pictures of the interior of America to
work fromespecially Spanish TexasVernet, Ambrose Louis
Garneray, Ludwig Rullmann, and other French artists had to
depend on their own resources to depict the settlements. Of
course, none of the pictures bore any relationship to the
real colony, but the combined efforts were much more
sophisticated than the imaginative engravings being printed
in America at that time and raised almost $15,000 for the
colonists."
($3,000-6,000)
1820
52. [MAP]. MELISH, John. United States of
America Compiled from the Latest & Best
Authorities. Philadelphia: M[athew] Carey & Son,
1820. Engraved map (by Tanner), original full and outline
coloring. 43 x 54.6 cm (16-7/8 x 21-1/2 inches). Scale: 1
inch = 120 miles. Neatly backed with acid-free tissue, a
few short tears and marginal chips mended (loss of one word
below neat line), centerfold split (but reinforced).
Early
edition of a widely circulated and influential map, with
one of the most forceful depictions of the U.S. Louisiana
Purchase extending far beyond the Mississippi River. This
map, with its depiction of Texas improved over Humboldt, is
a reduced version of John Melish's important 1816 map. The
map appeared in C. V. Lavoisne's A Complete
Genealogical, Historical, Chronological and Geographical
Atlas (1821). Because Melish's map was the most
authoritative available at the time, the Spanish and U.S.
plenipotentiaries used it as the definitive depiction
during their negotiations over the boundary between Spain
and the U.S. in 1819. Melish's widely circulated map
encouraged popular support for the U.S. bargaining position
of a boundary at the Rio Grande. John Quincy Adams settled
for less in the Adam-Onís Treaty, but the mood
created continued in the popular mind, resurfacing in the
1840s with the movement for the "reannexation" of
Texas.
Taliaferro
(208) notes another somewhat similar version of this map
published in the General Atlas for Guthrie's
Geography (Philadelphia, 1820). Taliaferro's comments
about the Guthrie version apply as well to the present map:
"The geography of the Texas coastline is somewhat confused:
all important topographical features are present and with
the correct relationship, but their forms are distorted.
Galveztown, Louisiana, appears on the west bank of the
'Attoyaque River,' just above Sabine Lake." Day, Maps of
Texas, p. 12.
Martin
& Martin 26 (citing the 1816 larger format version):
"The division of the lands in the Adams-Onís Treaty
was facilitated by the use of a popular and widely
disseminated map by John Melish, a Philadelphia publisher
who had established the first enterprise in the United
States exclusively devoted to the publication of
geographies and maps. Recognizing that the demand for
geographical information on the American West was limitless
in the foreseeable future, Melish undertook to accumulate a
vast amount of description, statistics, and maps, and in
1816 produced...his famous map. It proved so popular that
it was reprinted at least twenty-two times by the end of
1822. For the Texas area, Melish relied heavily on the
surveys conducted by William Derby, who had personally
surveyed much of the Sabine River area....
"Melish's
maps significantly improved the descriptions and depictions
of the Texas interior, but perhaps its most lasting value
to history was its official association with the
Adams-Onís Treaty. Because Melish's 90th meridian,
today the eastern boundary of the Texas Panhandle, was off
by approximately ninety miles, controversy and court
litigation concerning the correct boundary lasted well
beyond Texas' annexation. Moreover, Melish's map
graphically conveyed the controversy in the United States
over the boundary of Texas and Louisiana. Of lasting value,
too, was the widespread dissemination of new information
concerning Texas geography only five years before Stephen
F. Austin decided to honor his father's contract with the
Mexican government to bring Anglo-American settlers to
inhabit this rich new land." Streeter 1057n. Wheat,
Transmississippi West 338 & p. 76.
($500-1,000)
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