Folding lithograph map 82.2x60.3 cm (32x23") folded into green roan pocket covers, 13.5 x 8.3 cm (5¼x3¼"), elaborately blind embossed on both covers; lettered in gilt. Third Edition.
Lithograph map within decorative border, original hand-coloring with brilliant red outline coloring around Texas in its Emory conformation with greatly extended Panhandle, border yellow, pink shading to battle plan at top, Mexico in full color. Printed leaf on verso of cover: Extent and Population of Mexico.
This is the expanded, most complete, and final edition of a Mexican-American War map that enlarged in size and detail as the war progressed. In this revised and enlarged edition the battle plan has been redrawn with a new title and showing less area east of the city. Also added is the Map of the Principal Roads from Vera Cruz and Alvarado to the City of Mexico and profile below, but indicating longitude 8.7 to 11.9 (earlier edition indicates 8.5 to 12.1); area shown, however, is the same. In the present version, many place names have been added (such as Yerba Buena in California), as well as additional battle flags. The first issue is thought to have had the inset map at upper right uncolored. This map is a simplified, adapted version of Mitchell’s well-known 1846 New Map of Texas, Oregon and California with the Regions Adjoining.
At the time, Mitchell was among the leading map publishers in the United States. The present map is one of a series of popular maps cartographical publisher Mitchell began to publish at the outbreak of the Mexican-American War. As soon as the conflict was underway, Mitchell saw that there would be a demand for maps detailing the events in this far-off corner of the continent, so he quickly came out with a folded map of Mexico with Texas boldly shown with a red outline in its relative position, its panhandle extending to the 42nd parallel. The map was very much a war map, with topographical information kept to a minimum, but roads, towns, political divisions, and rivers clearly shown. Mitchell updated this map as news of events arrived, adding, for instance, flags indicating the sites of recent battles and other details such as rivers, towns, tribes, and Mayan ruins.