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Description

Rare Early map of Lake Tahoe and the Washoe Mining District on a Gnomonic Projection--One of the Earliest Geological Maps of the Region.

Centered on Virginia City and extending to the Truckee River, Lake Tahoe, the Walker River and the Carson River, the present map is an extraordinary production. The outer ring of mountains locates Sevier Mountain, Pyramid Peak, Mt. Washoe, the Valley of the Carson River, and "Massif Palmyra." Towns named on the map include Washoe City, Fort Churchill, Genoa, Carson, with several dozen mines also named.

Guillemin-Tarayre's map is part of a rare set of scientific works published by the French government. The map illustrated a section which relates to geology and mining in California and Nevada. In 1864, as a result of a French military expedition to Mexico, the Commission Scientifique du Mexique was established. At the time, mining in California and Nevada were the focal point of a great deal of interest in Europe.

Beginning with the discovery of silver in 1859, in the Comstock Lode in Virginia City, thousands of miners and others had travelled to the region, with the focal point of the boom being Washoe County.

The present map is perhaps the most spectacular of all the maps published for this work, presenting both an early and unique depiction and one of the earliest regional maps to focus on Lake Tahoe.