California in 1846

DUPETIT-THOUARS, Abel Aubert (1793-1864): Voyage Autour de Monde sur la Fregate la Venus, pendant les annees 1836- 1839,

Paris: Gide & Cie, 1841-1846. 3 parts (only) bound in 2 volumes, folio. (21 1/8 x 13 3/4 inches). 176 plates and maps. Expertly bound to style in dark green half morocco over light green sugar-paper covered boards, the spine divided into seven compartments by gilt fillets and a roll tool, lettered in the second and fourth compartments, the others with repeat decoration in gilt. A beautifully-presented set of the plates from this important voyage, which was "of particular significance to the history of Hawaii" (Forbes) and includes a very fine two-plate panorama of Honolulu from the sea. The individual volumes are as follows: DUPETIT-THOUARS. Voyage autour du Monde...Atlas Pittoresque. Paris: Gide, 1841[-?1845]. Half-title [imprint on verso], title [verso blank]; at end [3] pp. "Table des planches". 67 lithographed plates after Romauld-Georges Messnard, Louis-Jules Masselot and others (17 hand-coloured ethnographic/costume portraits; 24 tinted views; 26 plates on india paper mounted), 2 engraved maps (1 uncolored, 1 hand-coloured and folding). The 69 plates and maps are numbered from 1-70 with two numbers (69-70) being assigned to the final large folding map. Of particular interest are the 16 of the tinted plates are designed to form 8 two-sheet panoramas (including views of Honolulu, Sydney and the Cape of Good Hope), there is also one four-sheet panorama of 'San-Blas' in Mexico. The plates as a whole include images of Tenerife(1), Brazil(3), Chile(1), Peru(12), Hawaii(5), Kamchatka(6), California(4), Mexico(10), Easter Island(2), Peru(5), Galapagos(2), Marquesas(1), Tahiti(8), New Zealand (2), Sydney, Australia (4), Cape of Good Hope (2). [Isidore GEOFFROY SAINT-HILAIRE]. Voyage autour du Monde...Atlas de Zoologie. Paris: Gide, 1846. Half-title [imprint on verso], title [verso blank]; at end [2] pp. "Table des planches". 79 engraved plates (73 hand-coloured); [bound with:] [Joseph DESCAISNE. Voyage autour du Monde...Atlas de Botanique. Paris: Gide, 1846. Half-title [imprint on verso], title [verso blank]; at end [1] pp. "Table des planches". 28 uncolored engraved plates. Folio. The Zoological atlas includes 14 plates of mammals; 10 of birds; 3 of reptiles; 27 of "mollusques" and 16 of "zoophytes". Some variation in the number of hand- coloured plates is usual amongst various copies of this work: the example recorded by Forbes includes 75 hand-coloured plates. "The voyage, ostensibly to report on the whale fisheries in the Pacific, was political in nature. The presence of the frigate Venus in ports around the world would be of value to French commerce and diplomacy. After rounding Cape Horn, the expedition made calls up the coast of South America, to Hawaii, Kamchatka, and to California in order to assist French traders who had been clamouring for support for some time. Dupetit-Thouars' account of his stay in California, in 1837, is one of the most important and complete records of the Mexican period. In 1838, the Venus made a run for Easter Island, further investigated the coast of South America, then sailed for the Galapagos and Marquesas Islands, Tahiti, and New Zealand. At Tahiti the expedition forced Queen Pomare to write a letter to the King of France apologizing for mistreatment of French priests, to pay an indemnity, and to salute the French flag. He also made a treaty with Kamehameha III of Hawaii. After further visits to Sydney and Mauritius, the ship sailed home, arriving after a voyage of thirty months. " (Hill p.91). A complete set of this work (which is very scarce because of the long period over which it was published) should also include 11 volumes of text (4vols. narrative; 5 vols. Physique; 1 vol. Zoologique; 1vol. Botanique) and an elephant folio Atlas Hydrographique. Bagnell 1750; Barrett 743 "I have never seen a complete copy of this at one time"; BM (NH) II, p.606; Borba de Moraes, pp. 276-277; Brunet II, 890; Hill p.91; Ellis Early Prints of New Zealand (1978) p.57; Ferguson 2970; Fine Bird Books (1990) p.131; Forbes Hawaiian National Bibliography 1198, 1586, 1588; Hill (2004) 518 "One of the most important and complete records of the Mexican period in California"; Howell Americana 173; Howes P267; Judd 58 ; Nissen BBI 561; IVB 281; ZBI 1211; Ronsil 944; O'Reilly & Reitman 968-971; Ragatz A Guide for the Study of British Caribbean History p. 165; Ronsil 944; Sabin 21354 "Fine work"; Streeter Sale 2495; Whittel p. 220; Zimmer p.490.

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MITCHELL, Samuel Augustus (1792-1868): A New Map of Texas, Oregon and California with the regions adjoining. Compiled from the most recent authorities,

Philadelphia: S. Augustus Mitchell, 1846. Folding hand-coloured map. 22 13/16 x 21 inches. [Bound with:] S.A. MITCHELL (publisher). Accompaniment to Mitchell's New Map of Texas, Oregon, and California, with the regions adjoining. Philadelphia: S. Augustus Mitchell, 1846. 12mo bound in sixes (4 13/16 x 2 15/16 inches). 8pp. publisher's advertisements. Map and booklet bound within publisher's blue leather binding, covers with elaborate designs blocked in blind, the upper cover with central rectangular panel with gilt double-fillet border with star tool cornerpieces, surrounding the title in gilt 'Texas, Oregon / and / California.', expertly rebacked to style. A very good copy of this significant map, bound with the accompanying pamphlet as issued. Mitchell's famous western map of 1846, described by Wheat as "a work of real importance..." In this map Mitchell shows in detail the trans- Mississippi region on the verge of the Mexican War. Texas is elaborately depicted, with the Rio Grande as its southern border; Oregon is shown to extend to 54° 40"; and the Santa Fe Trail and the Oregon Trail are both detailed, the latter with a table of distances published in the lower corner of the map. "This map represents a great step forward, in that it is among the first by a commercial cartographer to utilize the recent explorations that had bounded and determined the nature of the Great Basin...because of its popularity, this map of the West exerted great influence, not only with the public but on other commercial cartographers" - Wheat. The Accompaniment ... describes the territories of Texas, Oregon, and California in detail, and information about Iowa, Indian Territory, and the Missouri Territory is also provided. Wheat Transmississippi 520.

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MITCHELL, S. Augustus (1792-1868) and James H. YOUNG (fl.1817-50): Mitchell's Reference and Distance Map of the United States,

Philadelphia: S. Augustus Mitchell, 1848. Wall map, 55½ x 70½ inches, full original colour, in very good condition, expertly repaired, backed with modern linen, trimmed in maroon cloth, on contemporary rollers, evenly toned, some slight staining along top edge. The seventh (1848) edition of this popular and important map by S. Augustus Mitchell and J. H. Young, on the grand scale of 25 miles to the inch. There were any additions since the publication of the 1845 edition, including the appearance of the new State of Iowa (1846) with its present boundaries. Scarce. Published at the close of the Mexican War, this map is especially important for the large inset A New Map of Texas, Oregon and California (19" x 21"), which first appeared in the 1846 edition. This new inset, which replaced the old inset General Map of the United States, was also separately issued as a pocket map, and was one of the first maps of the Transmississippi West. Rumsey believed that the inset was the first printing of the map, with the separately issued version published later (see 534). Wheat notes that Texas, Oregon and California "embraced the most recent published information extant." It was one of the first commercial maps to incorporate the discoveries of Fremont, as well as those of Nicollet, Wilkes, and Emory's map of Texas (1844). Texas is shown with its Republic boundaries, with a northern panhandle that extended all the way up to the 42nd parallel, into the present state of colorado. The Oregon Territory is shown with the new boundary established by the Compromise of 1846. The map features a fine steel engraving of an eagle holding arrows and the American flag in its talons, riding a seashell along the Potomac River. The first edition of Mitchell's Reference and Distance Map appeared in 1834, with subsequent editions in 1836, 1836, 1841, 1845, and 1846. This edition is not in Rumsey.

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TANNER, H.[enry] S.[chenck] (1786-1858): A Map of the United States of Mexico, as organized and defined by the several acts of Congress of the Republic ... Second edition, 1846,

Philadelphia: H.S. Tanner, 1846. Copper-engraved map, on banknote paper, with original hand-colour. Good condition with some expert restoration to margins and old folds. 22 7/8 x 29 5/8 inches. An important and rare map of Mexico and the southwestern United States, depicting Texas in its largest form, the 1846 "Second edition" of the celebrated Tanner map. The present map embraces all of modern Mexico and the southwestern United States of America, and prominently features the new state of Texas with its original extensive boundaries. H.S. Tanner, of Philadelphia, was one of the most esteemed American mapmakers of the first half of the nineteenth-century. His 1822 Map of North America was one of the most influential of the period. In 1825, he excerpted and enlarged the portion of the map pertaining to what was a newly-independent Mexico, which then included the entire American southwest. Tanner's map effectively became the definitive source map for the region. It was brazenly copied in the White Gallaher & White map of 1828, which in turn directly inspired the famous Disturnell map of 1846, the "Treaty map" initially used to consider the redemarcation of the international border following the Mexican- American war. Walter Ristow noted that Tanner produced the first edition of the United States of Mexico map in 1825, and furthermore cited that he "issued 10 variants of one or another of five states" of the map up to 1847. The present map is officially termed as the "1846, second edition", although it is actually the seventh variant of the map to be issued, according to Ristow's classification. It closely follows the "1832, second edition," even including the "April 2nd, 1832" copyright imprint in the lower right corner. At this time, interest in all matters relating to Mexico and Texas amongst the American public was at an all-time high, and it is thought that Tanner hastily prepared this edition in order to capitalize on the commercial opportunities. Tanner did not take the time to avail himself of the most recent geographical advances, and consequently this map is a fascinating cartographic hold-out during a time of unprecedented change. Texas is portrayed as an enormous Mexican state, although it had since 1832 seceded, and later joined the Union as an American state. Its massive territory extends far to the north and west of its modern limits, following the eastern band of the Rio Grande up to its headwaters, up into the 'stovepipe' to a point touching the 42nd parallel. The geographical detailing of most of Texas is quite accurate, as Tanner was well apprised of Stephen F. Austin's surveys, a point underscored by his inclusion of 'Austin's Colony' in east-central Texas. In an improvement to it antecedent, the western portion of the state owes its form to William Emory's map of 1844. The depiction of what is now modern Mexico is quite advanced, in light of Alexander von Humboldt's exhaustive charting of the country. At this time, Tanner elected not to include information from Charles Fremont's ground-breaking map of 1845, based on his own discoveries. The coastline of Alta California still maintains a mythical quality, void of most actual details such as San Francisco Bay, but is replete with imaginary details such as the Buenaventura, Los Mongos, Timpangos and San Felipe Rivers. The interior regions extending all the way into what is now Colorado are shown to be almost completely unknown. A curious prophetic detail is the demarcation of a boundary line between Alta and Baja California, although located to the south of the international border that was to be set in 1848. The map includes a detailed inset depicting the key travel route from the port of Veracruz to Mexico City, the same path taken by U.S. forces during their successful attack on the Mexican capital in 1847. In the spirit of the times, the map also includes two statistical tables, one of distances and the other of population and geographical details of individual states. Tanner, wishing to update this map, produced a "third edition" later that same year that included Fremont's discoveries. Ristow A la Carte p.207; Wheat Mapping the Transmississippi West vol.III, p. 38

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