Geographical, Statistical, and Historical Map of New Jersey

Eye-catching map of New Jersey published in an early and important American atlas by Carey & Lea.

Vivid color delineates county organization on this map of New Jersey, issued in Philadelphia near the end of the first quarter of the 19th century. The image and surrounding text provides a detailed overview of the geography, political composition and history of the state and surrounding area.

The Blue Mountain Ridge of the Appalachians is prominently depicted in hachure in the northeast, while numerous notable battle sites are identified with a bright red flag. Several coal fields are shown in Pennsylvania, reflecting the crucial importance of the region’s ore in fueling America’s Industrial Revolution. The map was engraved by Kneass and included as plate number 17 in the 1822 edition of Carey & Lea’s Complete Historical, Chronological, and Geographical American Atlas.

This important American publication was issued in six separate editions and 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.

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