The American Atlas

Reid

Published by Reid, 1796

About this Item

Reid / 1796 / The American Atlas (Safe 2, 97387) Folio. Contemporary half calf over marbled boards. Original letterpress label on front board: "The ATLAS for Winterbotham's History of America. 1796." Hinges cracked, boards holding by cords. Spine leather chipped away at head and toe. Corners worn. [2] pages and 20 engraved maps. American eagle vignette on title page. Maps with ample margins. Complete, as issued (the Washington, D.C. map, not issued in most examples, not present). Small chip to fore-edge margin of title page (printing unaffected). Map of the United States with 3-inch split at gutter fold. Old damp stain to Rhode Island map. Occasional foxing, and some minor offsetting. Generally clean and very nice internally. One of the First Atlases of the United States Issued in the United States - In Contemporary Boards "The second purely American atlas of the United States, preceded only by Carey's 1795 atlas" - Howes. John Reid's Atlas is one of the most important early atlases published in the United States, with most of the maps entirely original to the work. Reid followed on the heels of Mathew Carey whose American Atlas was issued in 1795. While the continental maps, the general map of the United States, and the map of Kentucky follow those in London editions of Winterbotham, the rest are original to Reid. Evans, Howes, and all other authorities cite Reid's American Atlas as having 20 plates, with only a few examples having an additional unlisted plan of Washington inserted. Early Tennessee Notable maps include one of the earliest of Tennessee, which is shown extending from the Mississippi in the west to the Appalachians. It includes notes on the S. Boundary of the Military Reservation, the Kentucky Road, and various public roads, Indian Boundaries, Indian Towns and other details. Nashville, Chickasaw Bluff, Clerksville, Creeks Crossing Place, Crow T., Nickajack Town, Knoxville, Talasse, Ross's Ironworks, Chilhwee, Chota, Coyeta and a handful of other towns and settlements noted. The earliest 6 Tennessee Counties (Washington, Sullivan, and Greene in East Tennessee; and Davidson, Sumner, and Tennessee in Middle Tennessee) began as western counties of North Carolina, established between 1777 and 1788. After the American Revolution, North Carolina struggled to maintain governance over the distant western settlements after the American Revolution. The early settlers looked to North Carolina's government for protection from the Indians and the right to navigate the Mississippi River; however, neither was forthcoming. As a result, in 1784, the East Tennesseans sought to establish the State of Franklin. The Franklinians named John Sevier governor and began operating as an independent government. At the same time, leaders of the Cumberland settlements tried to form an alliance with Spain, which controlled the lower Mississippi River and was held responsible for inciting the Indian raids. In drawing up the Watauga and Cumberland Compacts, early Tennesseans had already exercised some of the rights of self-government and were prepared to take political matters into their own hands. Despite best efforts, the independent state movement was suppressed by the North Carolina by 1788. After North Carolina ratified the U.S. Constitution in 1789, it ceded its western lands, then known as the Tennessee country, to the Federal government. North Carolina had used these lands as a means of rewarding its Revolutionary soldiers. In the Cession Act of 1789, it reserved the right to satisfy further land claims in Tennessee. Congress designated the area as the "Territory of the United States, South of the River Ohio", more commonly known as the Southwest Territory. The territory was divided into three districts, two for East Tennessee and one for the Mero District on.

Seller Inventory # 97387

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The American Atlas
• Publisher: Reid
• Publication Date: 1796
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: VG
• Book Type: Book
• Seller catalogs:
  • Antique Maps