1831 Dower / Teesdale Map of the Western Hemisphere

This is a beautifully colored 1831 Henry Teesdale / John Dower map of the Western Hemisphere published in their A New General Atlas of the World. The map predates the Mexican-American War, thus the United States does not include the modern-day American Southwest or Texas.

A Closer Look

North, Central, and South America immediately draw the viewer's attention. Cities are identified, including Quebec, Montreal, New York, Boston, Charleston, New Orleans, Veracruz, Havana, Caracas, Montevideo, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, and Valparaiso. Bays, capes, and other coastal features are labeled throughout. Islands are illustrated across the Pacific, such as Christmas Island and Owhyhee (Hawaii). Karakakooa Bay is marked as the site of Captain Cook's death on February 14, 1779. Lines trace Cook's voyages in the Atlantic and Pacific, with specific dates noted at a handful of positions.

Publication History and Census

Although not indicated on the sheet, this map was engraved by John Dower as the second plate in the 1831 edition of A New General Atlas of the World, published by Henry Teesdale. This appears to be a rare presentation of this map, as most examples from any edition of the atlas do not show such vivid and full color, only hand-colored outlines of territories. The 1831 edition of this map is independently cataloged in OCLC as being part of the holdings at the University of Chicago, the University of Texas at Arlington, the University of California Los Angeles, the Anchorage Museum, the University of Oxford, the National Library of New Zealand, and the National Library of Australia. The entire atlas is held by roughly one dozen institutions.