Lucas, Fielding Jr. “New York"

Fielding Lucas, Jr.  “New York.” 

Philadelphia: H.C. Carey & I. Lea., 1827.  11 3/4 x 17 3/4 (map).  Engraving by J. Yeager.  Original hand color.  Map skillfully rejoined along center fold.  Otherwise, very good condition.  A/A

In 1822, Henry Charles Carey and Isaac Lea published their A Complete Historical, Chronological, and Geographical American Atlas.  This volume was based on Emmanuel Las Cases’ Atlas Historique of 1803, with updated maps and text modified by Carey, a political economist.  He considered himself an American foil to John Stuart Mill and the London economists who were proclaimers of “the gloomy science” influenced by Ricardo and Malthus.  Instead of preaching overpopulation and degeneration of the human species, Carey illustrated the nations of the western hemisphere through maps that showed an expanding region with ample promise of developing into lands of great new opportunity and growth.

The sheets from this atlas, which cover North America, Central America, South America and the West Indies, are comprised of an engraved map surrounded by text documenting the history, climate, population and so forth of the area depicted.  The atlas is particularly known for its excellent early maps of the states and territories of the United States.  This map of New York is of particular interest as it shows the state just after the opening of the Erie Canal, which transformed the “upstate” part of New York.  The earlier, 1822 edition included a profile of the levels of the “Grand Canal,” but on this edition, after the canal was completed, the inset also includes a map showing its route from Hudson to Buffalo.  Also added to this edition is a profile of the Champlain canal.  One of the best maps of the state at this seminal period in its history.