Vandermaelen, Philippe Marie "Carte De L'Amerique Septentle"

Philippe Marie Vandermaelen. "Carte De L'Amerique Septentle."

Brussels: Philippe Marie Vandermaelen, ca. 1830. Approx. 24 3/4 x 30 3/4 (frame). Lithograph. Original outline hand coloring. Very good condition.

This is a rare (unrecorded?) single sheet map of North America published by Philippe Marie Vandermaelen. Vandermaelen is best known for his 6 volume world atlas, the first atlas prepared on a uniform scale and the first to utilize lithography. While no bibliographic information could be found for the this map, it may have been intended as a key sheet for Vandermaelen's 1831 four sheet map of North America. 

This map contains one relatively unique feature, the 3 orders of " Ligne(s) de partage des eaux," which translates loosely to "watershed lines". The map shows the primary mountain ranges which divide the watershed's of North America and Mexico. One line can be seen running from Alaska to Mexico and generally coincides with the Continental Divide. A second line runs east and west from Mount King to Nova Scotia, dividing the rivers flowing north and east toward Hudson's Bay and the St. Lawrence, from those flowing southward toward the Mississippi River. Another line tracks the Allegheny and Appalachian Mountains. Oddly, a line is shown running west and parallel to the Colorado River. The hydrographic theme seems to be common to both this map and the 4 sheet map, which is why it is believed that this map may have been intended as a key sheet.