Geographical, Statistical, and Historical Map of Vermont

A fascinating geographic review of Vermont from the first quarter of the 19th century.

At first glance at this map, it’s easy to realize how the Green Mountain State received its nickname. The eponymous range is prominently depicted pictorially running from north to south across the entirety of Vermont. Elsewhere, counties are organized into townships and colored by hand; while the numerous settlements are shown connected by a scattered network of rudimentary roads comprised of dirt and, on occasion, wood.

Dartmouth College and the state prison are prominently noted, as are the historic battle sites at Bennington and Hubbardstown. Lake George is also included to the east, a variation on this version from earlier editions. The map was drawn by Fielding Lucas Jr. and engraved by Young & Delleker. It was included as plate number 12 in the 1826 edition of Carey & Lea’s important 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.

Wheat, C. I. (2004). Mapping the Transmississippi West: 1540-1861. Mansfield Centre (CT): Martino Publishing. #348

Egli, L. G., & Phillips, P. L. (1974). A list of geographical atlases in the Library of Congress. Washington: Library of Congress. #1373