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1845 Meyer Map of Missouri - Oregon Trail Content
NeuesteKarteMissouri-meyer-1845$175.00
Title
Neueste Karte von Missouri Nach den bessten Quellen verbessert.
1845 (dated) 15.25 x 12 in (38.735 x 30.48 cm) 1 : 1920000
1845 (dated) 15.25 x 12 in (38.735 x 30.48 cm) 1 : 1920000
Description
This is an 1845 Joseph Meyer map of Missouri, published near the height of Oregon-bound migration. Independence, Missouri, a city founded in western Missouri near the Missouri River, acted as the launching point for the Oregon Trail and the Santa Fe Trail, two important wagon routes across the western United States.
Go West!
Independence appears in the upper third of the state near Missouri's western border. A road heading south from Independence is labeled von Santa Fe, identifying the older of the two emigrant routes. The Oregon Trail remains unlabeled but unmistakably appears, heading north along the Missouri River to Fort Leavenworth. The road across the state from Independence to St. Charles and St. Louis is illustrated in detail, with mileage between the towns noted. Rivers and streams provide even more understanding of the state's geography. A mileage chart in the lower left corner summarizes three routes across the state, giving mileage between the towns and other landmarks.The Santa Fe Trail and the Oregon Trail
The Santa Fe Trail was opened by William Becknell in 1821. It began as a merchant route and operated until the Santa Fe Railroad was completed in 1880. The Oregon Trail (the more famous of the two) was initially blazed by trappers and fur traders beginning around 1811. At that time, it was passable on horseback and on foot. The first migrant wagon train was organized in 1836. Hundreds of thousands traveled along the Oregon Trail and its offshoots, settling territory from Missouri to Oregon. The transcontinental railroad helped end the era of the trail's usage since the railroad made the trip faster, safer, and cheaper.Publication History and Census
This map was created and published by Joseph Meyer in his Hand-Atlas. We note 2 examples of this map cataloged in OCLC, which are part of the collections at the University of Michigan and the Birmingham Public Library.Cartographer
Joseph Meyer (May 9, 1796 - June 27, 1856) was a German industrialist, merchant, and publisher, active in Germany in the early to mid 19th century. He is best known for publishing the encyclopedia Meyers Conversation-Lexicon. Born in Gotha, Germany, Meyer was educated as a merchant in Frankfurt am Main. He moved to London in 1816, but returned to Germany in 1820 after his stock speculations and business adventures fell through. Once back in Germany, he began by investing in the textile trade (1820 - 24). Meyer began creating business plans concerning how to start railways soon after the first steam-hauled railway began operation in December 1835. He founded the Deutsche Eisenbahnschienen-Compangie auf Actien (German Railway Rail joint stock company) in 1845. Meyer also found great success as a publisher, utilizing the system of serial subscriptions to publications, a new idea for the time. He founded a company, Bibliographisches Institut in Gotha in 1825, which published several versions of the Bible, works of classical literature, atlases, the world in pictures on steel engravings, and an encyclopedia. He moved the Institut from Gotha to Hildburghausen in 1828. He published several atlases, including Meyer's Groẞer Hand-Atlas (1843 - 1860). In 1848, he supported the Springtime of the Peoples Revolutions that took place throughout Germany and much of Europe. When the revolutions failed in 1849, Meyer was briefly imprisoned for his support of revolutionary activities. The revolutions also began to take a toll on Meyer's business interests, and when he died, in 1856, the Bibliographisches Institut was struggling financially. His son, Herrmann Julius Meyer, took over the firm, spearheading a rapid recovery. This, and other businesses prospered under Herrmann Julius (April 4, 1826 - March 12, 1909) and when he died in 1909, he led the richest family in Saxony, with more total wealth than the King of Saxony More by this mapmaker...
Source
Meyer, J., Grosser Hand-Atlas uber alle Theile der Erde, (Hildburghausen: Bibliographischen Instituts) 1860.
Meyer's Grosser Hand-Atlas is Meyer’s most ambitious work, a true tour de force, featuring some 170 maps at its peak. These include 50 maps of the Americas. Among these, 33 are derived from the Tanner/Mitchell Universal Atlas, encompassing various U.S. States and Territories, Canada, and South America, with dates ranging from 1844 to 1854, predominantly from 1844 or 1845. Many maps in this atlas cite Philadelphia as their place of publication, along with other cities, suggesting a potential arrangement with Tanner and/or Mitchell for copying the maps. The U.S. maps dated 1844-46 derive from a late 1830s edition of Tanner’s Universal Atlas. U.S. maps dating from 1850-54 are based on 1850-54 Mitchell and Thomas Cowperthwait issues of the Universal Atlas. Exceptions are new maps of Texas, Iowa, and Wisconsin, which are unique to Meyer's atlas and feature content not found elsewhere. These maps appeared in editions of the atlas from 1846 to 1860, with changes reflecting new discovery and evolving political boundaries. Espenhorst also identifies a separate atlas published in 1860 featuring only these U.S. maps, titled Grosse und vollstandiger Auswanderungs-Atlas fur Nordamerika.
Condition
Very good. Very good. Light foxing.
References
Rumsey 4807.161. OCLC 891775397, 878506293.