Geographical, Statistical, and Historical Map of Georgia

A gorgeous example of Carey & Lea’s important early map of Georgia.

This interesting and detailed map of Georgia presents the Peach State in the first few years 1820s, as the Second Industrial Revolution began to reshape much of America. Although still shown as largely agrarian, subsequent editions would reflect the process of industrialization with new roads, canals, and coastal improvements.

Settlement remains concentrated largely along navigable rivers and the Atlantic Coast. Large county configurations reflect sparse populations while remaining territorial claims from the Cherokee and Creek Indians who have not yet been forcefully removed are also highlighted. Former claims in the south are noted as “extinguished by the Treaty of Fort Jackson.”

Also present in the south is a large pictorial depiction of the Okefenokee Swamp. Forts, Indian agencies, and even individually labeled beaver dams also reflect the rural composition of the state. This is also reinforced by the paragraphs of text and population tables surrounding the map. The latter shows the narrow numerical majority enjoyed by whites throughout the state, and the paucity of free blacks.

The map was designed by Fielding Lucas, Jr. and engraved by J. Yeager for inclusion in the 1826 edition of Carey & Lea’s Complete Historical, Chronological, and Geographical American Atlas. This important American publication was issued in six separate editions and in three different languages between 1822 and 1827. It was heavily influenced by an earlier European atlas by Emmanuel Las Cases (published under the pseudonym A. Lesage.), which inspired the format of a base map surrounded by blocks of informative text and tables of statistics.

Henry Carey, a political economist and the son of prominent publisher Matthew Carey, and his brother-in-law Isaac Lea incorporated this novel theme into their atlas, which focused entirely on the countries of the Western Hemisphere. It was issued at a time of tremendous political change in both North and South America, and the detailed maps accompanied by extensive text provide a unique, often insightful, perspective on the problems and possibilities of the Americas in the first quarter of the 19th century.