![]() His greatest contribution to American cartographic knowledge came from the many and various geographies compiled under his auspices.īy the 1830s, schools looked for current and well-illustrated geographies and primers as part of their educational programs. Mitchell’s maps could be found throughout the country. Mitchell’s maps and atlases covered the entire spectrum of map publishing: atlases, state maps, guidebooks, and special maps. Samuel Augustus Mitchell (1792-1868) entered the Philadelphia cartographic scene with his 1831 edition of A New American Atlas. Others soon migrated to the city to compete with Tanner. Tanner to succeed him as the premier American map publisher. Melish’s death in 1822 cleared the way for Henry S. The younger Tanner worked principally with Melish. He was joined in Philadelphia by his younger brother, Henry Schenck Tanner (1786-1858), by 1810. ![]() ![]() Chief among this talent was Benjamin Tanner (1775-1848), who relocated his engraving business from New York to Philadelphia by 1805 and serviced both Carey and Melish. ( Library of Congress)Ĭarey’s and Melish’s contemporary presence in Philadelphia drew significant talent to the city in the fields of cartographic engraving and printing. As the boundaries of the United States shifted, Melish published updated versions of the map, resulting in five map revisions between 18. John Melish’s Map of the United States became an invaluable tool for government entities and a curious public. For the first time, it gave Americans a view of the vastness of a country augmented by the Northwest Ordinance and the Louisiana Purchase. The 1818 edition of the map was used for delineating the boundaries between the United States and Spain and was specifically mentioned in the Adams-Onis Treaty of 1819. This map, which first appeared in 1816, became an invaluable tool in determining boundaries, which were still in flux between the United States and its neighbors, including Florida, Mexico, and Canada. Recognizing the curiosity of Americans about their own country especially after the War of 1812, he furnished a large-scale map of the entire United States as well as all of the North American British and Spanish possessions that bordered America. This ranked as a significant and influential milestone in American cartography. Melish assumed the mantle of America’s premier map publisher and geographer from Carey after the publication of his Map of the United States. Melish has been considered one of the founders of the American commercial map trade. The nation’s first full-time geographical publisher, John Melish (1771-1822), a native of Scotland, settled in Philadelphia in 1811 after many travels around his new country. However, he led the way in using the “cottage industry” of individuals and small firms found throughout Philadelphia to provide needed services.Ĭarey’s domination of Philadelphia publishing during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries did not prevent others from relocating to take advantage of the commercial opportunities found within the city. Carey was a general publisher maps were not his primary product. In 1795, he issued the first edition of Carey’s American Atlas, which contained some of the first depictions of the individual states of the union. ![]() His initial venture centered on his plans in 1792 for publishing an American edition of Guthrie’s Geography (1786) with maps as illustrations. Map publishing in Philadelphia began with Mathew Carey (1760-1839), who had already published several periodicals. In the early years, the major market for cartographic products centered on geographies, general atlases, and gazetteers that served the republic’s increasing appetite for maps. Using its capacity to attract all the manufacturing elements necessary for successful publishing-printers binders, colorists, engravers and others-Philadelphia became the home of the nation’s first full-time geographical publisher and soon became the center of the American map publishing industry. ( Library of Congress)Īs the country’s largest city, and for a time capital of the new nation, Philadelphia was well situated to chart the young republic’s changing geography. John Melish printed this 1819 map of Philadelphia County after three years of surveying, consulting with engravers, and gaining approval from the state legislature. Philadelphia, the Place that Loves You BackĮssay Mapmakers required a variety of specialists to produce accurate maps. ![]()
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