An Adams Onis Treaty Rarity
Exceptional map of the United States, on of the earliest maps to show country from coast to coast, issued shortly after the signing of the Adams Onis Treaty on February 22, 1819 by Secretary of State John Quincy Adams and Spanish Minister Luis de Onis.
Following on the mapping of the Northwest by Lewis & Clark and John Melish's landmark map of the United States from coast to coast published in 1819, Tardieu's map is one of the first to incorporate this information, with notable additions.
Tardieu's map includes significantly more topographical detail in the Pacific Northwest, improving the course of the Columbia River, adding a number of lakes and generally improving the course and detail of the rivers west of the Rocky Mountains. The map would seem to incorporate a considerable amount of information available from the Hudson Bay Company and fur traders in the region which was not included by Melish or Lewis & Clark.
Texas is identified as "Province de Texas" A massive Michigan Territory extends to the Mississippi River, incorporating the lands which would become Minnesota and Wisconsin.
The Adams Onis Treaty closed the first era of United States expansion, resulting in Spain's cession of East Florida and West Florida and the definition of a boundary with the Spanish province of Mexico, that clearly made Spanish Texas a part of Mexico. Spain also ceded to the United States its claims to the Oregon Country.
Rarity
The map is apparently scarce rare on the market.
Pierre Alexandre Tardieu (1756-1844) was a French engraver.
Tardieu was a member of the Institut de France, the Saint Petersburg Academy and the Academy of Milan.
His students included Auguste Gaspard Louis Desnoyers.