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Massive Early (and Highly Inaccurate) Idaho Territory -- Colored To Show The Slave & Confederate States and Territories
First state of this fine 4-sheet map of North America, published in London by Edward Stanford.
The map provides a fine overview of the United States in the midst of the Civil War, with Confederate States in grey and Union States in green (and territories in yellow).
The most remarkable feature of the map is the massive Idaho Territory, which covers all of Wyoming and a portion of southwestern Montana. Dated July 1, 1863, the configuration is both unique and inaccurate, as the first short lived configuration of Idaho Territory, from March 1863 to the creation of Montana Territory in May 1864, would have covered the area to the north of the present configuration all the way to the Canadian border and would have included a significant portion of the eastern part of what is here shown as Washington Territory.
A fascinating and uniquely inaccurate Territorial depiction of Idaho Territory.
States of the Map and Rarity
The map was issued in a number of variant states between 1863 and 1881, of which this appears to be the first.
We note later states in at least 1864, 1868, 1872, 1875, 1877, 1881, 1891, 1912, 1915. 1920, 1927, and 1945.
The early states of the map are quite rare on the market.
Edward Stanford (1827-1904) was a prominent British mapmaker and publisher. A native of Holborn in the heart of London, Edward was apprenticed to a printer and stationer at the age of 14. After his first master died, he worked with several others, including Trelawny W. Saunders of Charing Cross. Saunders oversaw young Edward’s early career, ensuring that he became a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. Associations with the Society eventually brought Sanders much business and gave him a reputation as a publisher of explorers. As testament to this reputation, the Stanford Range in British Columbia was named for him by John Palliser.
Stanford briefly partnered with Saunders in 1852 before striking out on his own in 1853. He was an agent for the Ordnance Survey, the Admiralty, the Geological Survey, the Trigonometrical Survey of India, and the India Office. He also controlled the maps of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, another lucrative source of income. In 1857, Stanford founded his namesake Geographical Establishment, with Saunders and A. K. Johnston as engravers. Thereafter, Stanford was known for his “library maps”, particularly those of Africa and Asia.
Although he had authored many maps, the Harrow Atlas of Modern Geography and a similar volume on classical geography, Stanford is better remembered today as the leader of a successful map business. Ever in search of more inventory, he acquired the plates and stock of John Arrowsmith, heir of the Arrowmsith family firm, in 1874. By 1881 he employed 87 people at his premises at 6 Charing Cross Road, Saunders’ old address. As he aged, he phased in his son Edward Jr. to run the business. He died in 1904. The business survived him, and the Stanford’s shop is still a prominent London landmark today.
