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One of the Earliest Obtainable Maps of the Florida Territory
Published soon after the annexation of Florida by the US under the ratified terms of the Adam-Onis Treaty, this map shows the Florida Territory from Pensacola eastwards. This map appeared in the 1826 Anthony Finley's New American Atlas, an important early American-published atlas whose plates were later acquired by Mitchell.
The map is hand-colored by counties and shows only 7 counties (Escambia, Walton, Jackson, Gadsden Leon, Duval, and St. John's), with no roads or settlements shown south of Lake George. St. John's County is massive, encompassing the majority of the state, although it was already, at this point, much reduced. It was one of the two original counties when Florida was first annexed, but over the years it gradually reduced in size until the present, when it encompasses only the immediate vicinity of St. Augustine.
This map is also an early map to show a joined East and West Florida, which had been separate entities prior to the establishment of the Florida Territory on March 22, 1822. Below the map is a chart entitled Comparative Elevation of the Principal Mountains, Cities, etc. North & South America. This shows the important mountains of the continent, including Longs Peak, as well as other features such as a "Farm House of Antesana the highest inhabited spot in the World" at 13,434 feet. Decorative elements here include mountains in eruption and the snow line.
Rarity and Primacy
The Finley map is very rare on the market, this being the second time in 30 years we have offered the map.
Prior to Finley's map, only a few maps were issued focusing on Florida, including maps by William Darby (1821), Henry Schenk Tanner (1822), Fielding Lucas (1822), and Carey & Lea (1822).
Anthony Finley (1784-1836) was an American map publisher. Little is known about his life. He is presumed to have been born in Philadelphia, where he also died. A publisher, Finley was also involved in several Philadelphia civic and professional societies such as the Philadelphia Apprentices’ Library. He may have been in business as early as 1809 and his first publication dates from ca. 1811.
His first maps also date from this year, with two maps in Daniel Edward Clarke’s Travels in Various Countries of Europe, Asia, and Africa. The first atlas published by Finley appeared in 1818, the Atlas classica, or, Select maps of ancient geography, both sacred and profane, for the use of colleges and schools in the United States. He is best known for his A New General Atlas Comprising a Complete Set of Maps (1824), which was a bestseller. There were two editions in 1824, with annual editions until 1834.
Finley was part of the first generation of American publishers who produced high quality, precise maps on American soil. He was in competition with other Philadelphia publishers, for example Henry S. Tanner. Finley’s A New American Atlas Designed Principally to Illustrate the Geography of the United States of America (1826) closely mirrors Tanner’s A New American Atlas Containing Maps of the Several States of the North American Union, with similar groupings of maps; the main difference is the smaller scale of Finley’s maps. Finley printed two editions of this atlas.
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