Samuel Augustus Mitchell (1792–1868). Texas, (Philadelphia: ca. 1858-67). Published in Mitchell’s School and Family Geography Atlas. Lithograph with hand color. 8 1/8 x 10 5/8 in. at neatline. Inset maps: “Map of The Vicinity of Galveston City,” and “Northern Texas.” Map of Iowa and Missouri on verso. Old adhesive stains along top margin. Good condition.
$300.00
This edition of Mitchell’s “Texas” was published in Mitchell’s School and Family Geography Atlas, one of several atlases he published, in approximately 1867. The map offered here shows Texas more than twenty years after statehood showing its present-day boundaries with Mexico at the Rio Grande River and Louisiana at the Sabine River. The Rio Grande was a great source of dispute between New Spain and Texas for many decades.
Shown on this map is the evidence of the progress of settlement in the state in the late nineteenth century, with roads and towns concentrated to the east. County lines are delineated creating a strong graphic representation of the densely developed eastern part of the state contrasted with the more expansive counties to the west. Highly detailed information includes stagecoach roads, railroads, towns, forts and rivers. The map also shows adjacent parts of New Mexico, west of Texas’ panhandle and Indian Territory to the north. Mountains across the state are shown in hachures.
Samuel Augustus Mitchell founded one of the United States’ leading map publishing firms of the nineteenth century. The country’s growing population, the expansion west, and a general increase of interest in geography, created a burgeoning market for the map and atlas business. Mitchell’s first publication was A New American Atlas, issued in 1831. In 1845 Mitchell acquired the rights to Tanner’s New Universal Atlas (first published in 1836) and in 1846 he published a new atlas. The 1846 atlas was of significance in the history of printing as it was the first American production to employ lithographic plates converted from engraved plates, which greatly reduced the cost of publication. The company continued after Mitchell’s retirement in 1860, under the management of his son Samuel Augustus Mitchell Jr., until 1890.
Refs.: Phillips, Atlases, 301 (1865 ed.); Schwartz and Ehrenberg, The Mapping of America, p.273; Tooley, R.V. Tooley’s Dictionary of Mapmakers, p.441; The Handbook of Texas Online: https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online (Accessed on 8-31-2019).
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