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1827 Henry Charles Carey & Isaac Lea
$975.00
Description

Nice example of the Carey & Lea edition of John Melish's map of the United States, this edition first published in 1823 (Wheat 352).

The map extends westward to depict the northwest, Missouri and "Arkansa" territories, and the province of Mexico, including Texas. The map draws extensively from Lewis & Clark, Pike, Humboldt, Long, and others.

The area in the northwesternmost part of Missouri Territory has been significantly updated from the 1822 edition of Carey's A complete Genealogical, historical, chronological and geographical atlas. The first difference is the change in the border with British America west of the Rocky Mountains, an early example of the American claims to the region north of the 49th Parallel which would dominate British-American politics for the next 2 decades and nearly lead to war. The map also includes significant improvements in the depiction of the Upper Missouri, Clark Fork and Columbia Rivers, including the depiction of many early Indian Tribes.

Farther south in what would become Utah, Wyoming, and Colorado, the map has also been completely revised.  Lake Timpanogos (Salt Lake) takes on a new shape and the Rio de San Buenaventura, the mythical river extending to the Pacific Ocean, is now plainly depicted along with an improved but still wildly speculative Rio Colorado and tributaries.  The mountain ranges and rivers in New Mexico are greatly improved and additional topographical features are added in Texas, most notably south of the Red River. The "Highest Peak" toponym from Melish's 1820 map (Wheat 338) is now Long's Peak (near the South Fork of the Platte River), with the Lewis River extended just to its west.

Condition Description
Original hand-color by state and territory. Minor centerfold toning. Minor offsetting. Staining in the upper-right and upper-left corners. Trimmed close to the neatline at the top edge. Better than Good.
Reference
Wheat, Carl Irving. Mapping the Transmississippi West, 1540-1861.
Henry Charles Carey Biography

Henry Charles Carey (1793-1879) was an American geography publisher and businessman. He was the son of Mathew Carey and carried on the family publishing company in partnership with his brother-in-law, Isaac Lea. Henry worked in his father’s business from a young age. At twelve, he managed a store selling his father’s publications. At fifteen, he was the firm’s financial manager. In 1817, he became a junior partner, which changed the company’s name to Carey & Son.

In 1822, Mathew Carey brought in a new junior partner, Isaac Lea, who had married Henry’s sister, Frances Anne. In the same year, Mathew Carey left the business, with Henry buying out his father’s share. His younger brother briefly joined the business, but left by 1829, when the firm was named Carey & Lea. William A. Blanchard joined the firm in 1833, causing another name change to Carey, Lea & Blanchard. Henry retired in 1835, leaving the firm as Lea & Blanchard.

Henry had outside interests, including political economy. He published Principles of Political Economy in 1837. He also wrote Past, Present, and Future (1848), Principles of Social Science (1858-1860), and The Unity of Law (1872). In the 1850s, he was very active in organizing the nascent Republican Party. He died in 1879.

Isaac Lea Biography

Isaac Lea (1792-1886) was an American publisher and geologist. Raised a Quaker in Delaware, he turned away from pacifist teachings and joined the militia in the War of 1812. After marrying Frances Anne, the daughter of publishing magnate Mathew Carey, Lea became a junior partner of Carey & Son in 1822. Mathew Carey left the firm in the same year and Isaac Lea worked primarily with his brother-in-law, Henry Charles Carey.

The pair conducted business as Carey & Lea, during which time they published A Complete Historical, Chronological and Geographical Atlas from 1822 to 1827. This work included roughly twenty maps engraved by Fielding Lucas Jr., as well as an American edition of Starling’s Cabinet Atlas. However, the firm increasingly turned away from cartographic publications.

By 1829, after the brief participation of Edward Carey, Henry’s younger brother, the company became known as Carey & Lea. William A. Blanchard joined the firm in 1833, causing another name change to Carey, Lea & Blanchard. Henry retired in 1838, leaving the firm as Lea & Blanchard.

Isaac Lea was not just a publisher, but an avid researcher with aptitude for geology. He was a member of the American Academy of Natural Sciences and the American Philosophical Society. He retired from publishing in 1851 and turned increasingly to geological research, results of which he published until his death in 1886.