United States

Beautiful example of Tallis’ map of the U.S., beckoning west.

This attractive map was engraved by John Rapkin and published by John Tallis in London around 1851. It presents a fascinating mid-century depiction of the United States and includes decorative vignettes designed by J. Marchant and engraved by J. Rogers. A Medium article comparing this map to Tallis’ North America provides an excellent summary;

“Tallis’ United States shows the country as far west as eastern New Mexico. Despite the legal cession of Mexican territory after the U.S.-Mexico War, the map erroneously shows Mexican land to the west. North of Texas, it identifies present-day Oklahoma as “Western Territory.” Tallis shows Nebraska in a much narrower configuration, stretching to the Canadian border. He applies a similar color treatment as established states, despite Nebraska’s territorial status. To its west lies a massive Missouri Territory that is not contiguous with the actual state of Missouri. The rest of the states and territories feature fairly accurate geography, including locations of cities, towns, mountain ranges, and even a few roads.

Texas has a strange formation reminiscent of several proposals by Missouri Senator Thomas Hart Benton during negotiations for the Compromise of 1850. Benton originally proposed the Red River as Texas’ northern boundary, while the western boundary would run along the 102nd meridian. Effectively, this would have reduced the total area of Texas from about 350,000 square miles to about 150,000 and cut off the Panhandle.To the west, Tallis offers a proposed territory of “New Mexico or Santa Fe,” containing ten towns, including Albuquerque and Santa Fe. The rest of Texas features much of the same topography as Tallis’ other map. One strange geographical error places Bonham, a small town along the Oklahoma border northeast of Dallas, near present-day Abilene.

Through seven decorative vignettes, the map reflects themes of American “manifest destiny.” Portraits of George Washington and Benjamin Franklin frame the outsides of the map, reminding viewers of the country’s origins. The lower portion of the map features an image of “Penn’s Treaty with the Indians,” a direct copy of the 1772 painting by Benjamin West of the same name. It depicts an allegorical meeting between William Penn and the Lenni Lenape tribe at Shackamaxon on the Delaware River, with Quakers and merchants looking on. On the lower-left corner is a vignette of mohawked American Indians on horseback, rifles in hand, taking part in a buffalo hunt on vast grassy plains, perhaps symbolic of an as-yet unconquered West. At the top of the map, imagery in the center includes the goddesses of justice and liberty, with the latter gripping a vindicta rod with a liberty cap on top, symbolizing freedom. They stand next to an image labeled “Excelsior,” with the sun rising ever upward, over two pyramids (or mountains) beneath an eagle, representing the ascendance of the United States. A shield with thirteen red and white stripes, a blue field, and a ring of golden stars decorates the upper-right corner.

The most prominent vignette on the sheet shows an early rendering of the Washington Monument. This is not the obelisk that we recognize in Washington D.C.; rather, it shows a colossal column in Baltimore topped with a standing figure of General Washington resigning his commission as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army at the Maryland State House on December 23, 1783. Tallis’ inclusion of this imagery suggests the Englishman’s (flawed) vision of America as united and in harmony during western expansion, as the nation progresses from a stronghold on the eastern seaboard, moving “ever upward,” (and westward), proposing to spread the “civilizing” gifts of American society to the Indigenous inhabitants of the West.”

Source: Medium