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1868 Mitchell Map of Ontario, Canada
CanadaWest-mitchell-1868$100.00
Title
Map of Canada West in Counties.
1868 (dated) 11.5 x 14 in (29.21 x 35.56 cm) 1 : 2500000
1868 (dated) 11.5 x 14 in (29.21 x 35.56 cm) 1 : 2500000
Description
This is a beautiful example of the legendary American map publisher Samuel Augustus Mitchell Jr.'s 1968 map of the Canadian province of Ontario, or Canada West. Centered on Lake Ontario, this map covers from Lake Erie eastward from Detroit, Michigan and Lake Huron at the northwest, as far as Quebec with Grand Manitoulin and Georgian Bay to the north.
Canadian provinces and territories were under British and French control from the 16th century, until France gave up its claims in the Treaty of Paris in 1763. Canada would remain a collection of British colonies until its confederation in 1867, when the British Province of Canada was divided into Quebec and Ontario and the British colonies of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia incorporated as Canadian provinces. With the signing of the 1854 Treaty of Reciprocity between the United States and Canada, this area experienced a period of sustained growth and prosperity. The Treaty was a move towards free trade, in which the United States and Canada opened borders and shared navigation rights.
This map also identifies various cities, towns, rivers and an assortment of additional topographical details. Map is color coded according to political boundaries with elevation rendered by hachure. One of the most attractive American atlas maps of this region to appear in the mid-19th century. Features the vine motif border typical of Mitchell maps from the 1866 - 1882 period. Prepared by S.A. Mitchell for inclusion as plate no. 9 in the 1868 issue of Mitchell's New General Atlas. Dated and copyrighted, 'entered according to Act of Congress in the Year 1868 by S. Augustus Mitchell Jr. in the Clerks Office of the District Court for the eastern District of Pennsylvania.'
Canadian provinces and territories were under British and French control from the 16th century, until France gave up its claims in the Treaty of Paris in 1763. Canada would remain a collection of British colonies until its confederation in 1867, when the British Province of Canada was divided into Quebec and Ontario and the British colonies of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia incorporated as Canadian provinces. With the signing of the 1854 Treaty of Reciprocity between the United States and Canada, this area experienced a period of sustained growth and prosperity. The Treaty was a move towards free trade, in which the United States and Canada opened borders and shared navigation rights.
This map also identifies various cities, towns, rivers and an assortment of additional topographical details. Map is color coded according to political boundaries with elevation rendered by hachure. One of the most attractive American atlas maps of this region to appear in the mid-19th century. Features the vine motif border typical of Mitchell maps from the 1866 - 1882 period. Prepared by S.A. Mitchell for inclusion as plate no. 9 in the 1868 issue of Mitchell's New General Atlas. Dated and copyrighted, 'entered according to Act of Congress in the Year 1868 by S. Augustus Mitchell Jr. in the Clerks Office of the District Court 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 Jr., S. A., Mitchell's New General Atlas, Containing Maps Of The Various Countries Of The World, Plans Of Cities, Etc. Embraced In Forty-Seven Quarto Maps, Forming A Series Of Seventy-Six Maps And Plans, Together With Valuable Statistical Tables, 1868 edition.
Condition
Very good. Minor spotting.