Lithograph map on bank note paper, original full hand color, ornate oak leaf and acorn border with corner vignettes of agricultural and wharf-side scenes. 51.5x60.7 cm. (20¼x24") including the borders, folding into original dark green blind-embossed cloth covers (14.3x9 cm.), lettered in gilt on front cover "Map of the United-States Canada, Mexico Central America and the West India Islands." First Edition.
Rare and beautifully executed pocket map showing the overland and sea routes from the East Coast and Midwest to the West Coast. On the East Coast, the chief ports of departure are New York, Charleston, and Savannah; in the Gulf of Mexico, the only port shown is New Orleans. All routes, including those from Europe, lead to Panama for the sea voyage to the West Coast. On land, routes are shown from Council Bluff, Independence, and Fort Smith, Arkansas. The new borders Atwood depicts show Mexico intruding north all the way to the Gila River, reflecting a pre-Gadsden border. Rumsey 2365 notes the map “Shows the Gold Regions in California. Atwood made important maps of the Gold Rush for Colton and Ensign & Thayer in 1849. In this map he publishes his own Gold Rush map, showing the routes to California and Oregon. This map is rare: it is not in Phillips, Karrow, Wheat, Streeter, Graff... Wheat Gold 258 is an 1854 derivative of this map put out by Ensign, Bridgman & Fanning. This 1851 map is very well done, and possibly the only map that Atwood published under his own name.” OCLC/WorldCat locates only five copies, at the University of California Berkeley, Yale, Princeton, Southern Methodist, and the Yellowstone Research Library.
Condition:
Lower two lines of gilt on the cover tarnished, slight wear at spine ends and corners, wear to inside gutter; map with small separations at a few folds (one with minor loss), top blank margins slightly wrinkled (not affecting images), a few light stains along folds; very good condition, coloring bright.