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MAP #: 313M5

CARTOGRAPHER : MELISH, JOHN

DATE: 1813

SHORT TITLE : MAP OF THE AMERICAN COAST

REMAINING TITLE & ID : FROM LYNHAVEN BAY TO NARRAGANSET BAY, BY JOHN MELISH. (RIGHT, BELOW CENTER, SURROUNDED BY CIRCULAR LINES TO MAKE THE BORDER OF A CARTOUCHE OF SORTS). "ENGRAVED BY H.S. TANNER" (BELOW TITLE). "ENTERED AS THE ACT DIRECTS, AND PUBLISHED BY J. MELISH PHILADELPHIA JUNE 1813." (CENTER BOTTOM MARGIN). TABLE OF POPULATION OF THE PRINCIPAL CITIES AND TOWNS ALONG THE COAST (RECTANGULAR BOX WITH LONG SIDE NORTH-SOUTH IN THE BOTTOM CENTER). SCALE IN MILES AND ILLUSTRATION OF HOW TOWNS, ROADS AND DISTANCES ARE RECORDED (ABOVE TITLE). THE MAP EXTENDS INTO THE LONGITUDE BORDERS ON THE TOP AND BOTTOM. LONGITUDE IS FROM WASHINGTON (BOTTOM BORDER) AND GREENWICH (TOP BORDER). LATITUDE (RIGHT AND LEFT BORDERS)

DATE OF PUBLICATION : S1813
PLACE OF PUBLICATION : PHILADELPHIA
PUBLISHER : G. PALMER (1813), JOHN MELISH (1815)
LANGUAGE(S) : EN
SIZE (HEIGHT X WIDTH) : 40.3 X 46.4 CM.
SIZE - OTHER DATA : 43.0 X 47.8 CM. OM
SCALE - (RF) 1: : 1,283,000
SCALE - OTHER DATA :
LIB. OF CONGRESS # : -
Md. HALL OF RECORDS # 1 : MSA SC1399-164
HUNTINGFIELD ACQ. # 1 : A018-DU2
REGION CATEGORY : GENERAL AREA MAP OF SOME SIGNIFICANCE TO A MD/CHESAPEAKE COLLECTION (3)
SPECIAL CATEGORY(IES) :
# SHEETS TO MAP : 1
MAP ORIENTATION : N IS AT THE TOP OF THE MAP
RELIEF SHOWN ? : NO
HYDROGRAPHIC DATA : SOUNDINGS ARE SHOWN IN FATHOMS (NOT IN THE CHESAPEAKE BAY).
: SHOALS ARE SHOWN IN SHADING.
CARTOUCHE : CURLED LINES (19)
BORDER : GEOGRAPHICALLY FUNCTIONAL (8)
PRIME MERIDIAN(S) : WASHINGTON AND LONDON (8)
SEE ALSO MAP #s : -
BEST INFO SOURCE : PHILLIPS ATLASES IS THE BEST ON THE MAP.
DESCRIPTION : THIS BEAUTIFULLY ENGRAVED AND COLORED MAP WAS NO. 6 OF A MILITARY AND TOPOGRAPHICAL ATLAS OF THE UNITED STATES; INCLUDING THE BRITISH POSSESSIONS & FLORIDA... TO WHICH IS ADDED, A LIST OF THE MILITARY DISTRICTS, A REGISTER OF THE ARMY, AND A LIST OF THE NAVY OF THE UNITED STATES..., 44PP., 8 MAPS, 8o, PHILADELPHIA: G. PALMER, 1813. A SECOND PRINTING WAS CONTAINED IN AN ATLAS BY THE SAME TITLE, WITH 12 MAPS, 8o, PHILADELPHIA: J. MELISH, 1815, OF WHICH THIS CONTINUED TO BE MAP NO. 6. THE MAP WAS ENGRAVED BY H.S. TANNER.

THE SHOALS IN THE CHESAPEAKE AND DELAWARE BAYS ARE CLEARLY IDENTIFIED BY STIPLING. SOUNDINGS IN FATHOMS ARE INCLUDED ONLY IN THE DELAWARE, WHERE THE CHANNELS ARE ALSO DELINEATED. PRINCIPAL ROADS AND DISTANCES BETWEEN TOWNS ARE SHOWN. THE APPROXIMATE LIMITS OF THE GEORGES BANK AND THE INNER EDGE OF THE GULF STREAM ARE NOTED ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE MAP.

JOHN MELISH (1771-1822) WAS A SCOTTISH CARTOGRAPHER AND PUBLISHER. HE CAME TO PHILADELPHIA IN 1811. RISTOW DESCRIBED HIM AS ONE OF THE MOST ENERGETIC AND COMPETENT COMMERCIAL MAP PUBLISHERS OF HIS DAY. HENRY SCHENCK TANNER, BASED IN PHILADELPHIA, WITH HIS BROTHER BENJAMIN, ENGAGED IN THE ENGRAVING TRADE. HE DID WORK FOR MELISH BUT ALSO FOR OTHERS BEFORE DEVOTING HIMSELF EXCLUSIVELY TO MAP PUBLISHING.

DATA IS FROM PHILLIPS ATLASES, RISTOW, AND FROM TOOLEY'S DICTIONARY OF MAPMAKERS.

EDITION & STATE INFO : PHILLIPS ATLASES SHOWS TWO ENTRIES FOR THIS MAP, ONE FROM THE 1813 ATLAS AND ONE FROM THE 1815 ATLAS. WHILE PHILLIPS SHOWS "ENGRAVED BY H.S. TANNER" FOR THE FIRST, IT OMITS THAT FOR THE SECOND. WE CHECKED THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS COPY OF THE 1815 ATLAS AND FOUND THAT THE LEGEND WAS ON THAT ONE ALSO. NO DIFFERENCE IN TITLE, LEGEND OR TYPE OF PAPER WAS DISCERNIBLE. THEREFORE, WE ARE PROVISIONALLY INDICATING THAT THERE WERE NO PLATE CHANGES AS BETWEEN THE TWO ATLASES AND THAT THE MAP WAS ISSUED ONLY IN A SINGLE EDITION AND STATE.

HFC OWNERSHIP DATA : THE HUNTINGFIELD COLLECTION HAS A CLEAN, DEACIDIFIED COPY THAT HAS BEEN REPAIRED AT THE MARGINS. THE MAP IS IN OUTLINE COLORING AND CAME FROM THE 1815 ATLAS. IT HAS AN ACQ. # OF A018-DU2 AND A MDHR # OF MSA SC1399-164.

BIBLIGRAPHICAL REFS. : PHILLIPS, PHILIP LEE, A LIST OF GEOGRAPHICAL ATLASES IN THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, AMSTERDAM: THEATRVM ORBIS TERRARVM, LTD., A 1971 REPRINT OF A 1909 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS PUBLICATION, I, 745-6, # 1346, # 1347; PARKE-BERNET GALLERIES, INC., THE THOMAS WINTHROP STREETER COLLECTION OF AMERICANA, NEW YORK: PARKE-BERNET GALLERIES, INC., 1966, VOL. 1, 72-73; HOWES, WRIGHT, U.S.IANA (1650-1950), NEW YORK: R. R. BOWKER COMPANY FOR THE NEWBERRY LIBRARY, 1962, # 492 (1813 AND 1815 ATLASES); RISTOW, WALTER W., AMERICAN MAPS AND MAPMAKERS COMMERCIAL CARTOGRAPHY IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, DETROIT: WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY PRESS, 1985, 110, 154, 191. July 20, 1991


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