IV. Early Republic Gazetteers and Atlases

The earliest geographical publications in the fledgling United States adopted one or other of the territorial and political conceptions of the Republic examined in the first half of this exhibition. Jedidiah Morse, often called the “Father of American Geography,” advocated the ideals of the Union and so provided maps of the Union in his first, small books [item 15]. He adhered to this spatial conception in his larger, geographical encyclopedia of the United States, the American Gazetteer. He provided a map of all North America [item 16] and an enlarged map of the Union, published in two parts [items 17-18]; he included only one detailed map, to accompany a special appendix on the settlement of “Western Georgia” [item 19].

A Map of the United States of America

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Jedidiah Morse (Americah, 1761-1826)
A Map of the United States of America
Engraving, 14.0cm x 14.5cm
In: Jedidiah Morse, Elements of Geography
(Boston: I. Thomas and E. T. Andrews, 1798), opp. 74
Osher Collection


Map of North America Shewing all the New Discoveries

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Jedidiah Morse (American, 1761-1826)
Map of North America Shewing all the New Discoveries
Engraving, 19.5cm x 22.5cm
In: Jedidiah Morse, The American Gazetteer,
3d edition (Boston: Thomas & Andrews, 1810), opposite title page
Smith Collection


Map of the Northern Part of the United States of America

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Abraham Bradley, Jr. (American, fl. 1796-1819)
Jedidiah Morse (American, 1761-1826)
Map of the Northern Part of the United States of America
Engraving, hand-colored, 22.0cm x 39.5cm
In: Jedidiah Morse, The American Gazetteer
(Boston: S. Hall and Thomas & Andrews, 1797), at "New England"
Smith Collection


Map of the Southern Parts of the United States of America

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Abraham Bradley, Jr. (American, fl. 1796-1819)
Jedidiah Morse (American, 1761-1826)
Map of the Southern Parts of the United States of America
Engraving, 20.0cm x 38.0cm
In: Jedidiah Morse, The American Gazetteer (Boston: S. Hall and Thomas & Andrews, 1797), at “Southern States”
Osher Collection


A Correct Map of the Georgia Western Territory

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Jedidiah Morse (American, 1761-1826)
A Correct Map of the Georgia Western Territory.
Engraving, 18.0cm x 16.0cm
In: Jedidiah Morse, “Statement of the Claims upon the Georgia Western Territory,” in The American Gazetteer (Boston: S. Hall and Thomas & Andrews, 1797), unpaginated appendix
Osher Collection


Title page From: Matthew Carey’s American Atlas

In contrast, Mathew Carey of Philadelphia followed the Constitutional conception of the Republic in his American Atlas (1795), the first atlas published in the United States [item 20]. Carey mapped the Republic as a collection of individual states; his atlas did not include a map of the Union. Note that he might easily have mapped Delaware together with Maryland [item 21], but he distinguished the smaller state with a map of its own. However, financial considerations led Carey to provide single maps of the whole Union in his smaller, cheaper publications [item 22].

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Mathew Carey (Irish/American, 1760-1839)
[Title page]
Facsimile of letterpress, 38.0cm x 21.5cm (paper)
From: Carey’s American Atlas (Philadelphia: Mathew Carey, 1795)
Osher Collection


The State of Maryland, from the best Authorities

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Samuel Lewis (American, ca.1754-1822)
Mathew Carey (Irish/American, 1760-1839)
The State of Maryland, from the best Authorities
Engraving, 28.5cm x 42.0cm (paper)
From: Carey’s American Atlas (Philadelphia: Mathew Carey, 1795), [plate 12]
Smith Collection


The United States of America

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Mathew Carey (Irish/American, 1760-1839)
The United States of America
Engraving, 24.5cm x 32.0cm
In: Carey’s American Pocket Atlas (Philadelphia: Mathew Carey, 1796), opp. 5
Smith Collection