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One of the Earliest American Maps of Lake Superior, Prepared for the Mining Boom That First Drew U.S. Interest to the Lake.
Superb lithographed map of Lake Superior by Michigan's best mapmaker, John Farmer. No example of this map has been offered on the market since the Streeter Sale in 1969.
The map includes information from the Government Survey of the Lake Superior Land District, which was approved in 1847 and greatly expanded the geographic knowledge of the region.
US Survey of the Lake Superior Land District
N. King Huber, The Geologic Story of Isle Royale National Park:
In 1847 the U.S. Congress authorized a survey of the vast Lake Superior Land District to determine its mineral potential, and the result of this survey was the first series of comprehensive reports on the geology of the region. Charles T. Jackson's report of 1849 contains the first map of Isle Royale to show in a very general way the different rock types present on the island. Two following reports, both by John W. Foster and Josiah D. Whitney in 1850 and 1851, include an improved geologic map of Isle Royale and a wealth of information on the early mining activities on the island.
19th Century Mapping of Lake Superior
The modern surveying of Lake Superior began in the first half of the 19th century and produced the following cornerstone maps:
1828. Lt. Henry Wolsey Bayfield. Survey of Lake Superior.
1847. T. W. Bristol. Chart of Lake Superior, Reduced from the British Admiralty Surveys, with corrections on the South Shore, from the U.S. Surveys. By T.W. Bristol 1847
1847. John Farmer. A Geological Map of the Mineral Region From the Official Plats of the United States Surveys and Chart of Lake Superior . . .
1849. Clarence T. Jackson. Geological and mineralogical reports: U.S. 31st Cong., 1st sess., House Ex. Doc. 5
1849. John Farmer. Map of the States of Michigan and Wisconsin embracing a great part of Iowa and Illinois and the whole Mineral Region with a Chart of the Lakes.
This is an update of Farmer's 1847 map of Lake Superior, first issued in only the western sheet, with the eastern sheet added perhaps in 1849. Despite the title's allusion to "a great part of Iowa and Illinois", the map shows nothing of either state. It seems possible that the map was originally intended as a three-sheet production; Farmer maps are known joining the partial 1847 Lake Superior with the map of Michigan. To our knowledge no two- or three-sheet examples exist.
Insets
The map includes the three insets:
- Map of a portion of Wisconsin and a Part of Minnesota
- Map of Beaver Islands from actual survey
- Plat of Isle Royale as laid out into sections from actual survey by the US
Editions and Rarity
The map was first published under a different title in 1847 and revised, '49, '52, '55, '56, '57, and '58 (the present example). The first edition did not include the inset maps but was important in its own right as one of the first two American maps of Lake Superior.
Although the map was published in numerous editions, it is extremely rare today, with no examples having appeared at auction or in dealer catalogs since the Streeter Sale (1969, $100)
John Farmer
John Farmer (1798-1859) was a surveyor and mapmaker based in Detroit, Michigan. To this day he remains the most important mapmaker in Michigan's history. Michigan State provides an in-depth timeline of Farmer's life here .
John Farmer first became a school teacher and taught map drafting among other topics in upstate New York.
At the time, Michigan Territory was in need of teachers. In December 1821 the board of University of Michigan in Detroit (still only primary and secondary education) offered Farmer a position as head of the Lancasterian School.
Trained as a draftsman, Farmer supplemented his income by copying surveyor's township maps and selling the maps to new settlers. He also drew for the Treasurer of the United States a map of Michigan’s first real road, which had been funded by the federal government and assisted Orange Risdon in his map of the surveyed part of Michigan. When Risdon’s project stalled, Farmer ended up publishing his own detailed map of the state in 1826.
By 1830, Farmer had created a new large format map of Michigan which had so much detail that the engraving of the map had to be outsourced to engravers in New York City. This Map of the Surveyed Part of the State of Michigan depicts in great detail the southern half of Michigan’s lower peninsula.
Farmer also produced regional maps starting in 1835 when both Michigan and Wisconsin were still mere territories, ontinuously revising them over the years to reflect changes in development. Frustrated by the delays and costs associated with sending his manuscripts east for copper engraving, Farmer taught himself the art of copperplate engraving. By 1835, he was engraving his own plates, enabling him to produce maps more efficiently and affordably. Over the next two decades, Farmer issued dozens of maps, continuously updating and revising them to reflect new survey data and the evolving landscape of Michigan and Wisconsin. His works became indispensable to new settlers, offering extraordinary detail that facilitated land acquisition and settlement.
After a few years Farmer sold the publishing rights to his maps to eastern publisher J. H. Colton and turned his attention to mapping new communities and became involved in the formation of a Detroit Board of School Inspectors.
One of Farmer’s most significant contributions was the Map of the State of Michigan and the Surrounding Country, first published in 1844. This map was revised eleven times during Farmer’s lifetime, with subsequent updates by his wife, Roxanne, and his son, Silas, continuing until 1874. Notably, editions of this map after the third were consistently labeled as the "23rd edition," with varying dates in the cartouche—a quirk that has intrigued and occasionally confused map collectors and historians.
Farmer’s meticulous work not only documented Michigan’s development but also played a vital role in shaping the state’s cartographic history. His maps captured the rapid transformation of the region as it transitioned from a frontier territory to a settled state.
In 1826, Farmer married Roxanne Hamilton, also a native of Halfmoon, New York. The couple had three children: Silas, John, and Esther. Following John Farmer’s death on March 24, 1859, Roxanne assumed control of his mapmaking business, producing several maps herself. She later passed the enterprise to their eldest son, Silas, who continued the family tradition of cartography.
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