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1867 Mitchell Map of California

California-mitchell-1867
$100.00
County Map of California. - Main View
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1867 Mitchell Map of California

California-mitchell-1867

Mitchell's map of California with inset of the Great Salt Lake.

Title


County Map of California.
  1867 (dated)     14.5 x 12 in (36.83 x 30.48 cm)     1 : 4000000

Description


A rare 1867 Map of California by the American map publisher S. A. Mitchell Jr. Covers the region in considerable detail showing extant and proposed rail lines, cities and counties as well as an assortment of additional topographical information. Colored coded with pastels according to county. A large inset in the upper right quadrant details the regions surrounding the Great Salt Lake, in Utah. Another inset, in the lower left quadrant, details San Francisco Bay. This is the last edition of this map to use the basic map plate created by Mitchell in 1860. Subsequent editions replaced the Great Salt Lake inset with an inset of the city of San Francisco. Features the vine motif border typical of Mitchell maps from the 1865-80 period. Prepared for inclusion as plate 55 in the 1867 issue of Mitchell's New General Atlas. Dated and copyrighted, 'Entered according to Act of Congress in the Year 1867 by S. Augustus Mitchell Jr. in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the U.S. for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.'

Cartographer


Samuel Augustus Mitchell (March 20, 1792 - December 20, 1868) began his map publishing career in the early 1830s. Mitchell was born in Bristol, Connecticut. He relocated to Philadelphia in 1821. Having worked as a school teacher and a geographical writer, Mitchell was frustrated with the low quality and inaccuracy of school texts of the period. His first maps were an attempt to rectify this problem. In the next 20 years Mitchell would become the most prominent American map publisher of the mid-19th century. Mitchell worked with prominent engravers J. H. Young, H. S. Tanner, and H. N. Burroughs before attaining the full copyright on his maps in 1847. In 1849 Mitchell either partnered with or sold his plates to Thomas, Cowperthwait and Company who continued to publish the Mitchell's Universal Atlas. By about 1856 most of the Mitchell plates and copyrights were acquired by Charles Desilver who continued to publish the maps, many with modified borders and color schemes, until Mitchell's son, Samuel Augustus Mitchell Junior, entered the picture. In 1859, S.A. Mitchell Jr. purchased most of the plates back from Desilver and introduced his own floral motif border. From 1860 on, he published his own editions of the New General Atlas. The younger Mitchell became as prominent as his father, publishing maps and atlases until 1887, when most of the copyrights were again sold and the Mitchell firm closed its doors for the final time. More by this mapmaker...

Source


Mitchell's New General Atlas, containing maps of the various countries of the World, plans of cities, etc., (1867 edition).    

Condition


Very good. Some foxing throughout. Minor edge wear.

References


Rumsey 0579.043 (1868 edition).