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Includes Bonner's Pocket Map of the State of Georgia 

Rare Third Edition of this early work on the history of Georgia, the first (and only) edition to include Bonner's Pocket Map of the State of Georgia.

A fine work in the historiography of Georgia, Historical Collections of Georgia by Rev. George White presents an expansive and richly detailed account of the state’s past from its colonial origins through the mid-19th century. White, an Episcopalian minister, historian, and archaeologist, meticulously compiled a wealth of historical narratives, biographical sketches, anecdotes, and regional traditions, creating one of the earliest comprehensive records of Georgia’s history.

First published in 1854, this volume serves as both a historical chronicle and an antiquarian study, offering valuable insight into Georgia’s early settlement, its development under British rule, and the social and political transformations of the Revolutionary and antebellum periods. The book features chapters on key topics such as the “Charter of the Colony,” “Provincial Congress,” and “Chatham County,” alongside descriptions of indigenous cultures, colonial institutions, and notable figures. The work is illustrated with portraits of significant historical personalities, as well as detailed architectural illustrations, providing a visual complement to White’s extensive research.

Bonner's Pocket Map of the State of Georgia

The work includes a rare separately published pocket map of Georgia, published by Georgia's most important mapmaker of the period, William Bonner,  a civil engineer resident in Georgia's then-state capital Milledgeville.   

The map was issued one year after the Georgia-Florida boundary dispute was resolved in 1854 by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled in favor of Florida, adopting the northernmost, or "McNeil's Line," rejecting the Crawford and Cooper Line of 1831 and a second more northerly line which had been called "the True Line by J.R. Butts, Surveyor on the part of Georgia 1854".  Each of these lines are shown on the map.

In 1847, William G. Bonner published a wall map of Georgia, the largest separately published map of Georgia prior to the Civil War.  Prior to 1847, the best large format map of Georgia was the Early-Sturges map of 1818. As Georgia grew in population and became increasingly more settled, the Georgia Legislature addressed necessity of an improved large format comprehensive map, which resulted in the retention of William G. Bonner to create such a map. Bonner, a civil engineer, constructed his map by compiling existing material available in Milledgeville and adding information received from county magistrates. As noted in several excerpts from the Macon Weekly Telegraph,

We have witnessed the progression of this work, since its commencement, almost daily. It has been executed at the Capitol, where reference has been easy to the statutes regulating boundary lines, and to all the surveys ever ordered by the State authorities (November 24, 1846).

It appears that Mr. B[onner]. is exceedingly desirous of having a particularly correct outline of each county, with all the public places therein, or whatever may be of local or general interest, noted with care. For this purpose he has furnished a number of counties in the State, through the Executive, with a rough map upon which the Inferior Court were requested to [sic] have dotted and marked the particulars above referred to, and return the same (June 9, 1846).

The resulting map was the largest scale map of Georgia produced to date, emphasizing the state's natural geography and topography. The Georgia-Florida boundary, which was still then in dispute, was indicated by three alternative borders. The dispute was resolved in 1854 by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled in favor of Florida, adopting the northernmost, or "McNeil's Line."

Bonner's map was apparently well received, receiving considerable praise in local newspapers, as well as the backing of the General Assembly, which subscribed to 130 copies of the first edition for distribution to each county and the other states.

In 1848, the first edition of his reduced size "Pocket Map" was issued. 

Rarity

The third edition is very rare on the market.

RBH notes 2 copies at auction in the past 100 years, Swann Galleries (1977) and Park Bernet 1946.