Original 1798 Map of the Northern United States
Item Details
A fascinating antique map titled Map of the Northern Part of the United States, from the Morse Gazetteer (full title the The American Gazetteer, Exhibiting a Full Account of the Civil Divisions, Rivers, Harbours, Indian Tribes, &c. of the American Continent), by Jedidiah Morse, published 1798 by Samuel Ethridge of Charlestown, Massachusetts. The map depicts the area from the southern border of Virginia and Kentucky in the south, to southern Canada in the north, and from the Atlantic to the Mississippi. It shows what is now the Midwest but was then the Northwest Territory, divided into provisional segments labelled Ist State – V State. Parts of what would soon be Ohio are divided among other states or land companies, for example as ‘New Connecticut’ in the northeast and the Ohio Company in the southeast. Cincinnati, Hamilton County, and the Great and Little Miami Rivers are labelled in southwest Ohio, after the city was renamed from ‘Losantiville’ in 1790. Kentucky is labelled with the non-standard spelling ‘Kentuckey’, and the Allegheny Mountains are labelled as ‘Allegany Mountains’. A ‘Great Cave’ appears just across the river from western Kentucky, and may be what is today called Mammoth Cave, which was discovered just before this map was published. The map has a fold down the middle, and text and image on the opposite side are faintly visible, due to the fact that it was first printed in a book. It is matted in white paper and framed under anti-glare museum glass in a gold-painted wood frame. There is a metal wire on the reverse for wall hanging. Overall the piece is a fascinating first-hand depiction of the Midwest when it was still America’s frontier.
Condition
- minor nicks and scratches to the frame. The map itself is in remarkably good condition.
Dimensions
Item #
15CIN107-153
Additional Information
