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Description

Kentucky Before The Jackson Purchase of 1814

Nice example of this early map of Kentucky from the 1814 edition of Matthew Carey's General Atlas, the first appearance of hand coloring in an American Atlas.

In the East, Floyd and Greenup Counties are unnamed and curiously configured.

The map shows Kentucky 4 years prior to the Jackson Purchase, whereby the portion of Kentucky west of the Tennessee River was purchased from the Chickasaw by the United States during the Monroe administration.  Notably, in the present map, the area is shown in blue, but without a county name.

One of the earliest obtainable maps of Kentucky to include counties, with still only a small number shown. The map also provides an excellent depiction of the early road system in Kentucky, with roads extending as far west as the Cumberland River and the Ohio River.

This is also one of the earliest maps to depict the mountainous topographical features of the state.

Matthew Carey issued the first American published Atlas in 1795, which was subsequently updated in 1796, 1800 and again in 1814, with the 1814 being the first obtainable in original color.