Scarce late state of Anthony Finley's New General Atlas, the most successful commercial atlases published in America in the 1820s.
First issued in 1823 in Philadelphia, Anthony Finley's New General Atlas was by far the best-selling American-published world atlas of the decade, likely surpassing the cumulative sales of all other American-published world atlases combined.
Following in the footsteps of Fielding Lucas, Finley produced a small folio atlas that includes maps of every state, along with other maps of the Americas, Europe, Africa, and Asia. Using high-quality paper and fine watercolors, the atlas dominated the American market.
Between 1823 and 1834, the atlas was updated on an annual basis, with new maps added periodically as new states and territories were admitted to the Union.
Of particular note, Finley's maps of the midwestern and southern states are often among the earliest printed atlas maps of the different states and territories.
Anthony Finley (1784-1836) was an American map publisher. Little is known about his life. He is presumed to have been born in Philadelphia, where he also died. A publisher, Finley was also involved in several Philadelphia civic and professional societies such as the Philadelphia Apprentices’ Library. He may have been in business as early as 1809 and his first publication dates from ca. 1811.
His first maps also date from this year, with two maps in Daniel Edward Clarke’s Travels in Various Countries of Europe, Asia, and Africa. The first atlas published by Finley appeared in 1818, the Atlas classica, or, Select maps of ancient geography, both sacred and profane, for the use of colleges and schools in the United States. He is best known for his A New General Atlas Comprising a Complete Set of Maps (1824), which was a bestseller. There were two editions in 1824, with annual editions until 1834.
Finley was part of the first generation of American publishers who produced high quality, precise maps on American soil. He was in competition with other Philadelphia publishers, for example Henry S. Tanner. Finley’s A New American Atlas Designed Principally to Illustrate the Geography of the United States of America (1826) closely mirrors Tanner’s A New American Atlas Containing Maps of the Several States of the North American Union, with similar groupings of maps; the main difference is the smaller scale of Finley’s maps. Finley printed two editions of this atlas.