Samuel Augustus Mitchell along with his son and successor S. Augustus Mitchell, Jr. were successful and prolific Philadelphia publishers. Between 1831 and 1890 general map and atlas publishing in the United States was dominated by the Mitchell family of Philadelphia and the Coltons of New York City. Mitchell’s maps were lithographed and well colored and always included a decorative floral border.  Mitchell senior was a school teacher who disdained of the quality of American geography books. Vowing to publish his own, a business was born. The information on his maps was accurate and up-to-date showing changes that were occurring with American expansion in the west. They are collected today because of their attractiveness and affordability.

Hand colored lithograph.
15 ¼ x 23 inches sheet.
Excellent condition.

A highly detailed map of the region of Switzerland and Northern Italy including Lake Geneva, Maggiore Lake, Como Lake and Lake Constance. Beautifully engraved with many topographical details. Cities large and small are named including Bern, Basel, Zug, Lugano, and many more. The map features a small charming cartouche of two gentlemen shaking hands in greeting.
This map was included in the Latin edition of
Theatrum Orbis Terrarum sive Atlas Novus
, printed in Amsterdam in 1640.

Full original hand colored copperplate engraving.
19 ¾ x 23 ½ inches, sheet. Full untrimmed margins. Latin text on verso.
Very nice condition, patina to paper, centerfold flattened.

An attractive freehand drawn map of the world in two hemispheres on the Mercator projection, showing the land masses of the world as they were known to exist at the end of the eighteenth century.

Framed to show signature and date “William Boyd, Cambridge, 1793” in a window cut into the map on the reverse.

12 ¼ x 14 ¼ inches, sight.
Framed in antique molding to 17 x 19 inches, overall.
Very good condition save very small area of loss in margin.

Anthony Finley (ca. 1790–1840) was a successful Philadelphia mapmaker and publisher. This map was included in his
New General Atlas…
, published in 1824 when Finley’s offices were at the corner of Fourth and Chestnut Streets. As Walter Rostow states in his reference
American Maps & Mapmakers…
(pp. 268-9) the ”engraving is done almost uniformly with remarkable distinctness and the face of the maps is frequently beautiful, not overloaded with a confusion of useless names.” Indeed these maps are beautiful. Indeed, the maps from this atlas are beautiful examples of the American mapmaking during the first quarter of the 19th century.
Hand-colored engraving.
10 1/4 x 13 inches, sheet.
Very nice condition with light browning of extremes of margins.

Jean Baptiste Pierre Tardieu (1746-1816) was a prominent French cartographer and engraver operating in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Tardieu’s work is known for its beauty and accuracy as well as for its depth of detail. The maps are particularly highly valued for the decoration that surrounds the area of the title known as the cartouche. The prime meridian is shown to be Paris. This map was included in Conrad Malte-Brun’s
Atlas Complete du Precis de la Geographie Universelle
, published in Paris in 1812. The lower right corner of the map contains an engraved depiction of the wall of a walled city with Moorish influence.

9 7/8 x 13 1/2 inches, sheet.
Engraving with modern hand color beautifully applied.
The sheet has a lovely light patina not evident in the photo.
Excellent condition

18 x 21 1/2 inches, sheet.  Copperplate engraving with remarkably well preserved original coloring. Excellent condition. French text on reverse.

This superb original eighteenth century map of the southern coast of Spain focuses on the important fortifications protecting the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea. The map covers the region extending from the mouth of the Rio Guadalquivir in the west to Motril in the east. It includes schematic representations of the relative sizes of the larger towns and the direction of their settlement. The maps includes insets of  the Spanish fortress of Ceuta on the Moroccan Peninsula de Almina, two small inset maps of Minorca and Ceuta, and three views featuring Cadiz, the Gibraltar fortress,  the port of Malaga. The title is surrounded by elaborate engraving of military items including a canon.
Hand colored engraving.
Crisp strong impression and original color.
Framed to 27 ½ x 30 ¾ inches,

Samuel Augustus Mitchell along with his son and successor S. Augustus Mitchell, Jr. were successful and prolific Philadelphia publishers. Between 1831 and 1890 general map and atlas publishing in the United States was dominated by the Mitchell family of Philadelphia and the Coltons of New York City. Mitchell’s maps were lithographed and well colored and always included a decorative floral border.  Mitchell senior was a school teacher who disdained of the quality of American geography books. Vowing to publish his own, a business was born. The information on his maps was accurate and up-to-date showing changes that were occurring with American expansion in the west. They are collected today because of their attractiveness and affordability.

Hand colored lithograph.
15 ¼ x 12 ¾ inches sheet.
Excellent condition.