1835 Bradford Map of France

This beautiful map of France was printed by the important American mapmaker T. G. Bradford in 1835. It depicts the Kingdom of France showing its various departments, and covers from the Nord in the north to eastern Pyrenees in the south and from Finistere in the west to Upper and Lower Rhine in the east. Towns, rivers, mountains and various other important topographical details are noted. Elevation throughout is rendered by hachure and departments are color coded.

Until 1790 France was divided into 40 provinces based on local loyalties and feudal histories. On March 4th of 1790 the National Constituent Assembly reorganized the Provinces with what the Assembly deemed a more rational political structure. The new department system was intended to deliberately break up France's historical regions in an attempt to erase cultural differences and build a more homogeneous nation. Initially there were 83 departments but by 1800 that number increased to roughly 130. Many of the departments that were created in 1790 remain administrative districts to this day.

This map was issued during the July Monarchy, a liberal constitutional monarchy under King Louis-Philippe instigated by the July Revolution of 1830. The July Monarchy would last until the Revolution of 1848 which saw the establishment of the Second Republic.

The map was published in Thomas G. Bradford's 1835 Comprehensive Atlas Geographical, Historical and Commercial.  Bradford's atlas, published in 1835 was an important work on many levels.  First, it was one of the first American atlases to follow an encyclopedic format, offering readers extensive geographical and statistical tables to supplement the maps themselves.  Second, it was published in Boston and influenced the city's rise as a publishing center later in the 19th century (at the time most publishing in the United States was restricted to New York and Philadelphia).  Third, this atlas was the first to contain a separate and specific map showing the Republic of Texas.  Fourth and finally, Bradford's atlas in some instances broke the Euro-centric mold regarding atlas production.  Among other things, Bradford focused his atlas on the Americas and abandoned the classical decoration common in European atlases in favor of a more informational and inherently American approach.

Bradford published this atlas in several editions and with various partners.  The first edition was published by William D. Ticktor and did not contain the iconic Republic of Texas map (although we have in fact seen Ticktor examples with a Texas map, suggesting, against conventional wisdom, that there may have been two Ticktor editions).  The second official edition, published in the same year by the American Stationers Company, was the first to contain the Republic of Texas map, which is based on Austin's map, with two pages of descriptive text.  A third edition was issued in 1836, also by American Stationers (though still dated 1835), and contained an unaltered Republic of Texas map with only a single page of descriptive test.  A fourth edition appeared later, possibly 1837, and included an updated and revised map of Texas that replaces the old Mexican land grants with new inchoate counties. The maps from this atlas are an important addition to any collection focusing on early American cartography and Republic of Texas cartography.

All maps in this atlas, though not specifically noted as such, were most likely engraved by G. W. Boynton of Boston, who also engraved most  of the maps for Bradford's later publication.