Travel Books With Maps

The first edition of this book, published in Walpole, New Hampshire, was much smaller and did not include the many documents reprinted in the appendix. The map after the official map by James Whitelaw is a new engraving for this printing. While William Blodgett created the first accurate map of Vermont, Whitelaw has prominence as the second and best Surveyor General of the state serving from 1787 to 1804 and having a variety of maps published from his first hand surveys. This "A Map of the State of Vermont . . . 1809" is in excellent condition. See: David A. Cobb's "Vermont Maps Prior to 1900 an Annotated Cartobibliography" in Vermont History (XXXIX, 3&4): item 166. Illustrated in J. Kevin Graffagnino's The Shaping of Vermont (p. 80) with the map from the earlier edition on p. 64. $600

Theodore Dwight. The Northern Traveller: Containing the Routes to Niagara, Quebec, and the Springs, with the Tour of New-England, and the route to the Coal Mines of Pennsylvania. New York: A.T. Goodrich, 1826. Second edition, with addendum to 1827. 12mo. Original half leather binding. With considerable wear and rubbing, but solid and intact. Interior with some light foxing throughout, but generally very good. Complete with eight views and nineteen maps.

A wonderful, early travel guide through the northern United States. The first edition of this work was issued in 1825 and its popularity encouraged the publication of this "improved and extended" version. As noted in the preface to the second edition, "The present volume, therefore, contains the original tours to Niagara, the Springs, and Quebec, much enlarged and improved; and to these have been added the tour to the Coal Mines of Pennsylvania, and that of the New-England States, with brief descriptions of several cities, including Boston, New-York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, and Charleston." Inserted just after this preface 8 pages of new text labeled "Additions made to the Northern Traveller in May 1827." This section focuses on "public works in Pennsylvania," including text on Pennsylvania canals and Mauch Chunk. The text of the volume is designed to be read as one travels about Pennsylvania, New York and New England, and it presents a lively and detailed image of this region in the third decade of the nineteenth century. The volume is greatly enhanced by the inclusion of the eight views and nineteen maps. Four of the views are new to this second edition, as are three of the maps. The maps are inserted so as to follow the text and they show very local regions with good detail. To read through this volume is to be transported back 175 years and then taken on a further voyage around our young nation. $325

Richard J. Cleveland. A Narrative of Voyages and Commercial Enterprises. Two volumes in one. Cambridge: John Owen, 1842. First edition. 8vo. Dark brown cloth over boards. Ex-library with original labels on two front free end papers; remains of label on rear free end paper with some damage from removal, including small hole in page, lower left. Some wear to spine and boards. Heavily foxed throughout, with dark stain at bottom corner causing some wear to paper, pp. 101-178. Binding secure. Fair condition. Howes: C485; Sabin, 13665.

An important marine narrative written by Richard J. Cleveland, an adventurer merchant. The DAB described Cleveland as "one of the greatest of the great race of New England sea captains-intrepid, skillful, clean, temperate, honest-[although] regard for Spanish trade regulations and for the nice conduct of neutrals in wartime was no part of his code. He was a thorough gentleman and a born writer." This narrative was drawn from Cleveland's journals and letters of his many years sailing out of Salem and around the world, beginning in the late eighteenth century. Cleveland had many adventures and won and lost several fortunes. His account details his expeditions to China, California and the American northwest coast, Alaska, Hawaii, and South America. Its scope makes this a invaluable documentation of America's growing might as a marine power. Of considerable interest is the account of Cleveland's partnership with William Shaler, who served as an American agent on these voyages and later in Texas. Reprinted several times, this first edition is rare. $750

Henry S. Tanner. A Description of the Canals and Rail Roads of the United States, comprehending Notices of all the Works of Internal Improvement Throughout the Several States. New York, London, and Paris: Tanner & Disturnell, Wiley & Putnam, A. Bertrand, 1840. Small quarto. Frontispiece map, [i]-viii, 9-272, [i]-iv. Plus two additional maps. Lacking two folding diagrams called for by Sabin. Original cloth covers, with some waviness, gold stamping on front; rebacked and with added title.. Early ownership ink stamp on front and back pastedowns. Interior excellent. Ref.: Sabin: 94316; Howes: T-26.

With the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825, the United States entered a period of rapid building, first of an extensive canal network and later an even larger railroad network. This led to a demand for works giving practical information on this growing transportation nexus. Henry S. Tanner, an important American map engraver and publisher, met this demand in 1834 with his A Brief Description of the Canals and Rail Roads of the United States. With the continued growth of canals and rails, Tanner issued an expanded, no longer "Brief," work on the same topic in 1840. In 1840 canals were still being planned and constructed, but the rapid improvements in the technology of tracks and steam meant the momentum was clearly in favor of the railroads. By 1840 there were 2,816 miles of railroads in the United States compared with 1,331 miles in England.

The text of this book is filled with the popular phrases lauding "internal improvements" that were promoted by the U.S. Government and financed through the sale of public lands and training of engineers in the military academies. A general description of the nation is followed by chapters on each state as well as Canada. A glossary of terms and index follows. This book was designed to interest the foreign investor as well as the domestic traveler or merchant. This work came out in a number of versions, of which this is the best, bound into a slightly larger format and including two extra maps, besides the standard map of the United States folded into the front.

Frontis map. "Map of the Canals & Railroads of the United States. Reduced from the large Map of the U.S. by H. S. Tanner." Engraving by J. Knight. 17 1/4 x 23. Insets of "South Part of Florida" and profiles of Chesapeake & Delaware Canal, Dismal Swamp Canal, Welland Canal, and Lehigh Navigation." State boundaries are shown with Missouri and Arkansas as the newest and westernmost states. Actual and proposed canals and railroads are outlined. Facing page 80. "A New Map of New York." Insets: "Profile of the Erie Canal" and steamboat routes. 10 1/2 x 12. Facing page 144. "A New Map of Pennsylvania with its Canals, Rail=Roads & Distances from Place to Place along the Stage Routes." Engraving by W. Brose, Philadelphia. Insets: "Profile of the Pennsylvania Canal and Columbia Railroad" and steamboat routes. 10 1/2 x 12 1/2. $1,250

Henry S. Tanner. A Description of the Canals and Rail Roads of the United States, comprehending Notices of all the Works of Internal Improvement Throughout the Several States. New York: Tanner & Disturnell, 1840. Octavo. Frontispiece map, [i]-viii, 9-273. Plus two folding diagrams. Original embossed blue-green cloth with gold-stamped spine title. With some light water staining. With some water stains and foxing in interior, but still overall good. Ref.: Sabin: 94316; Howes: T-26.

Another version of Tanner's Description of the Canals and Rail Roads of the United States issued in 1840. This version is on slightly smaller paper. It includes two profile diagrams of major canals and railroads, but lacks the two folding maps that appeared in the larger version (cf. above). $950

Traugott Bromme. Hand- und Reisebuch fur Auswanderer nach den Vereinigten Staaten von Nord-Amerika, Texas und Californien, Ober- und Unter-Canada, Neu-Braunschweig, Neu-Schottland, Santo Thomas in Guatemala, der Mosquitofuste und Brasilien. Bamberg: C. C. Buchner, 1851. 8vo. Original grey boards with gold-stamped cloth spine title. Boards worn, interior water-stained to p.66, scattered stains and foxing throughout. Fair, but binding intact. Cf. Howe: B800; Sabin: 8211.

With accompanying map: Joseph Edmund Woerl. "Die Vereinigten Staaten Von Nord-America." Germany, ca. 1836. Folding map, dissected into eighteen sections and mounted on linen. 18 1/4 x 25 1/2. Lithograph by B. Herder. Light, original outline color. Very good condition.

An unlisted edition of Traugott Bromme's influential 'Hand and Travel Book For Emigrants.' Bromme was one of the most prolific German Travel writers from the 1830s to 1850s; between about 1835 and 1865, he issued a number of travel guides to America, many accompanied by maps. As Howe says, "Based on actual travels this constituted the most extensive source of information for emigration-minded Europeans." The guides were aimed at the large number of Germans interested in emigrating to America and they had a wide circulation and influence. This edition was issued with an accompanying map of the United States; the title page says it was a map by Tanner, but as indicated in Sabin and Rumsey, it was actually a map by Joseph Woerl (also Wörl). Rumsey has high marks for the map, calling it a beautifully engraved map of the US. The map includes interesting and impressive detail in what is today the western half of the United States, apparently based on Brué's 1833 map of North America and his 1834 map of Mexico. Indians tribes, rivers, and some roads are indicated, and Woerl shows the Rocky Mountain ridge, which though not totally accurate, does give a good idea of its course and extent. To the west, between this ridge and the Pacific coastal lands, very little information is given, with a label indicating that this was "Oede Sand Wüste." Woerl does include the geographic error of the double Great Salt Lake, but he doesn't include the usual companion error of rivers running from these lakes to the Pacific. Texas is shown with interesting early information. Arkansas (statehood 1836) is shown, though it is labeled as "Arkansas Terr," and the remnant of the Arkansas Territory, essentially present-day Oklahoma, is also entitled Arkansas. Good detail is also given along the Rio Colorado, especially in the largely mythical headwaters west of the Rocky Mountains. Two Salt Lakes are prominently shown, along with the remnants of several mythical western rivers. The Puget Sound, Columbia and Frasier River treatment is also excellent. Shows many Indian Tribes, Forts, Roads, Lakes, Rivers, Mountains and other places of interest. Massive Missouri Territory dominates the mid-Continent. This version of the map appears to be identical to the 1838 edition (which is dated), though with different coloring, and it is identical to the version accompanying the 1848 Bromme traveler's guide (Rumsey 3048) $1,950

Delaware & Hudson Canal Railroad. A Souvenir descriptive of the Adirondack Mountains, Lake George, Lake Champlain, Saratoga and other points.... Albany, N.Y.: Passenger Dept. of D. & H.C. Co's R.R., n.d., but circa 1890. 2 folding maps inserted. 8 vo. Book and maps printed by American Bank Note Company. Pp. [2]-117. Some age browning and splitting at extremities of spine, but complete and lovely.

A wonderful excursion guide that can take the reader from Virginia or New England into the New York mountains. Three lithographed maps on two sheets are: "Map of the Delaware & Hudson Railroad System" 23 x 15 (sheet) and on one 14½ x 14 sheet are: "Map of the Adirondacks . . ." and "Map of Lake George." The text was designed to be read while following the maps and giving descriptions and historical backgrounds for a great many places. A fine document for railroads and this region. $145

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