Seth Kaller, Inc.

This bright, hand-colored wall map engraved by J. H. Young was the first published by former teacher S. Augustus Mitchell. It features inset maps of six cities (Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Charleston, and New Orleans) and the North American continent, as well as population statistics, canal routes, and the relative heights of mountains and relative lengths of rivers in the United States. This map predates the Travellers Guide by a year and thus is Mitchell’s first “original” production.

J. H. YOUNG. Map of the United States. Entered according to Act of Congress in the Clerks Office of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, October 10th, 1831. 1st ed. [Philadelphia: S. Augustus Mitchell], 1831. Hand-colored folding map on four sheets joined. Folding into original covers, red half morocco over marbled paper boards, upper cover with gilt-lettered title label (corner and edges worn). The map and covers now apart and separately mounted for display. Binding: 6½ x 9? in. Frame: 39½ x 48¼ in.

Inventory #22138       Price: $15,000

Historical Background
Mitchell first became associated with Young when working on the re-issue of an improved and revised edition of Anthony Finley’s New American Atlas in 1831, and Mitchell and Young began a mutually beneficial partnership. Mitchell served as the editor and manager of the publishing company, while Young worked as the primary cartographer and engraver. The two men collaborated on many cartographic publications over several decades. They revised and updated maps from the New American Atlas, which they published separately on thin paper, folded into pocket-sized simulated leather covers.

In 1832, Mitchell introduced his Travellers Guide Through the United States. A Map of the Roads, Distances, Steam Boat & Canal Routes &c. with engravings by Young. It includes inset maps of eight cities and several statistical graphs and tables. It was republished in several editions over two decades. Mitchell’s company pioneered the use of steel engraving in America for reproducing maps, because publishers could obtain only a few thousand impressions from the more common soft copper plates, and lithography had not yet become common in map printing and publishing.[1]

The copyright date of this map is October 10, 1831. There is no other date on the map. Ristow thinks the map was issued in early 1832, but it is not in Phillips until the 1834 edition (which probably has the 1831 copyright), so Ristow may not have seen this edition, but rather that from 1834.[2]

Samuel Augustus Mitchell (1790-1868) was born in Connecticut and worked as a teacher. While teaching, he discovered the poor quality of available geographical resources. He moved to Philadelphia in 1829 or 1830 and founded a company for the publication of geography textbooks and maps. He also sold travel guides and eventually his firm was selling 400,000 copies of his publications annually. His son, Samuel Augustus Mitchell Jr. (1826-1882), became owner of the company in 1860.

James Hamilton Young (1792-ca. 1870) was born in Scotland and immigrated to the United States before 1817. He practiced engraving in Philadelphia from 1817 to 1866 and was a pioneer in American steel plate engraving. He and William Kneass were partners in Kneass, Young and Company, an imprint active from 1817 to 1820. He then partnered with George Delleker from 1822 to 1823. He engraved for several map publishers in Philadelphia, most notably Samuel Augustus Mitchell, for whom he served as chief engraver from 1830 until well into the 1860s. In 1840, he registered a patent for an improved system of setting up typography for printing.

Reference
Karrow 1-1473; Ristow p309.

Condition
Good; original full color, the palette rich and bright; one 5-in. repaired tear at left (into Arkansas); some cracking and more minor tears at folds; some overall browning of the sheet.