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Description

Detailed map of North America, which is an odd mix of information. While the map is colored to show the 1846 borders of the US, there are numerous details that date from 1825-1840. Upper California includes the Rio Buenaventura and Rio Sacramento or Timpanagos, flowing from the Pacific to Lake Timpanagos (Salt Lake) and the mythical Lake Teguayo, features that were being removed from the map following Fremont's expedition in the early 1840s. Texas is shown in a Stovepipe configuration, and Iowa Territory is shown extending to the Canadian Border, a tell-tale sign of a pre-1840 map. The double wide Arkansas configuration is also in evidence, although truncated, and Missouri Territory dominates the Plains and Upper Missouri Valley. While the boundary of 1848 is noted with Mexico, pre-dating Gadsden, virtually nothing else has been updated. While the map is noted as exhibiting the recent discoveries, the reality is that it is a text book of older Transmississippi West details. Despite its dated quality, the detail of the map is impressive.

James Wyld Biography

James Wyld Sr. (1790-1836) was a British cartographer and one of Europe’s leading mapmakers. He made many contributions to cartography, including the introduction of lithography into map printing in 1812.

William Faden, another celebrated cartographer, passed down his mapmaking business to Wyld in 1823. The quality and quantity of Faden’s maps, combined with Wyld’s considerable skill, brought Wyld great prestige.

Wyld was named geographer to Kings George IV and William IV, as well as HRH the Duke of York. In 1825, he was elected an Associate of the Institution of Civil Engineers. He was one of the founding members of the Royal Geographical Society in 1830. Also in 1830, his son, James Wyld Jr., took over his publishing house. Wyld Sr. died of overwork on October 14, 1836.

James Wyld Jr. (1812-87) was a renowned cartographer in his own right and he successfully carried on his father’s business. He gained the title of Geographer to the Queen and H.R.H. Prince Albert. Punch (1850) described him in humorous cartographic terms, “If Mr. Wyld’s brain should be ever discovered (we will be bound he has a Map of it inside his hat), we should like to have a peep at it, for we have a suspicion that the two hemispheres must be printed, varnished, and glazed, exactly like a pair of globes.”