1847 "Pictorial Map of the United States" by Ensign and Thayer

Offered is an original 1847 ornamental map of the U.S. entitled "Ornamental Map of the United States Mexico" by Humphrey Phelps. The map was issued as an act of Congress by Phelps on Fulton Street, New York. The broadside is elaborately hand-colored. This is a very detailed and graphic propaganda map of the United States expressing U.S. dominance of the North American continent. The hand-colored map proclaims the Manifest Destiny, with the recent acquisition of Upper California and Texas at the conclusion of the Mexican-American War. The newly acquired land is boldly colored, standing in stark contrast to the rest of the U.S. The map details a potential route for a railroad running from New York City, to Buffalo, to Chicago, then west along the Oregon Trail to Oregon City. This route anticipates the construction of the transcontinental railroad by nearly 20 years. The map includes elaborately detailed renderings of George Washington, Hernan Cortez, and Montezuma at top to represent European expansion to the Americas. At bottom are four inset designs with text showing the following: a chronological history of the U.S. beginning from settlement to the U.S. victory in the Mexican-American war; an illustration of General Zachary Taylor with details on the Oregon Territory; an illustration of the Aztec Temple of the Sun in Tenochtitlan and a chronology of the Conquest of the Aztec Empire under Cortez; a portrait of General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna...

Presented is an 1866 issue of “Ensign & Bridgeman’s Rail Road Map of the United States, showing Depots & Stations.” First published in 1856, this is the third edition, following anot...

This is an exquisite and dramatic steel-engraved wall map of the United States, published by T. E. H. Ensign in 1845. The map depicts the development and settlement of the Unit...

Presented is an 1859 “Map of the United States of America, the British Provinces, Mexico, the West Indies and Central America with Part of...