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Early Toronto published map of the Great Lakes region, prepared by John Smyth, one of the most important regional surveyors and mapmakers of the period.
Sir John, a title Smyth gave himself, was a major advocate of a railroad route extending from New York and Montreal to the Rocky Mountains and the Columbia River, as a means of increasing trade with China and India.
The map was engraved for Currier by James Hamilton in New York, and includes a depiction of a steam engine with three cars. The map is without question one of the earliest general railroad advocacy maps and one of the earliest obtainable large format separately published maps of the Great Lakes region.
A fascinating map, combining early railroad history, trade with the West and China, one of the most interesting of all Canadian map makers and a rare large format map in a single package. Printed on thin bluish paper, it is rare on the market, with the only recorded sale of the map at auction being the Streeter Copy (6:3856), which sold for $130.00 in 1969 (previously acquired by Streeter by Thomas Thorp in 1937).
The description for the Streeter copy noted that the copy offered in 1969 was moderately foxed, with tears and wrinkling at the folds. Streeter 6:3856.
Not in Phillips, Rumsey or Modelski.
