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AmericA th

beAutifu

John Melish was a highly educated Scottish

merchant who settled in Philadelphia in

1811, eventually to become one of the rst

great cartographers on the American continent.Melish drew on a number of ofcial state maps to

produce this mammoth map of the United States,

which was used on several occasions to determine

boundary lines between the U.S. and Mexico. He

rst published it in 1816, updating it frequently over

the following several years as new discoveries came

to light

This great wall map is coveted by collectors,

for it was the rst to depict the United States

potentially stretching from Atlantic to Pacic,

thereby embodying the nascent notion of Manifest

Destiny. Furthermore, it demonstrated a remarkably

precise understanding of American geography, for

the travel accounts of Zebulon Pike, Lewis & Clark,

Thomas Nuttall, and William Darby were used assoon as they appeared. Walter Ristow, the legendary

historian of the mapping of America, could not

heap enough praise on this map. He considered it

a signicant milestone in the history of American

commercial cartography, and wrote that Melish

played a foremost role in bringing together from

many and varied sources the geographical and

cartographical knowledge of the period, and

presenting it systematically and graphically for the

edication and enlightenment of the citizens of the

young republic.

No nation ever existed without some sense of

national destiny or purpose. The notion of Manifest

Destiny revitalized a sense of mission or national

destiny for many Americans. The term was rstcoined by a democratic leader and inuential editor

by the name of John L. OSullivan, who wrote:

.... the right of our manifest destiny to over spread

and to possess the whole of the continent which

Providence has given us for the development of the

great experiment of liberty and of self government

entrusted to us. It is right such as that of the tree to

the space of air and the earth suitable for the full

expansion of its principle and destiny of growth.

Although OSullivan spoke these words in

the 1840s, he summed up a sense of destiny that

had its origins several decades earlier and found

its rst true visual expression in Melishs great

map. Already in the early

1820s, the people of the United

States felt it was their mission

to extend the boundaries

of freedom to others by

imparting their idealism

and belief in democratic

institutions to those who were

capable of self-government.

But there were other forcesand political agendas at work

as well. As the population of

the original thirteen colonies

grew and the U.S. economy

developed, the desire and

attempts to expand into new land increased. For

many colonists, land represented potential income,

wealth, self-sufciency and freedom. Expansion

into the western frontiers offered opportunities for

self-advancement. The idea of Manife

became the torch that lit the way for

expansion.

Melishs map was produced just as

of Manifest Des

crystallizing in th

American cons

and it gave visual

to the glorious fate

anticipated for th

nation. Recogniz

seemingly endless d

geographical inform

the American Wesundertook to accu

vast amount of de

statistics, and maps.

just after Melishs

edition shows the

made in 1820 when he enlarged the size

to show the West Indies and all of southe

For the Texas area, Melish relied heav

surveys conducted by William Darby

mAp of the united StAteS

with contiguouS britiSh

& SpAniSh poSSeSSionS.

publiShed by John meliSh.

philAdelphiA, circA 1820.

thiS exceptionAl

mAp wAS meliShS

moSt noted

AccompliShment, A

compelling teStAment

to the irreSiStible

pull thAt mAnifeSt

deStiny -- thenpurely hypotheticAl

-- exerted on

the AmericAn

conSciouSneSS.

courteSy of ArAder gA

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personally surveyed much of the Sabine River area.

Melishs map signicantly improved the descriptions

and depictions of the Texas interior, but even more

signicant is its ofcial association with the Adams-

Onis Treaty. Also called the Transcontinental Treaty

of 1819, the Adams-Onis Treaty was one of the

critical events that dened the U.S.-Mexico border,

and Melishs map was the main one consulted by

negotiators.

Perhaps its most lasting value to history, however,

is its depiction of the young nation stretching from

coast to coast. This exceptional map was Melishsmost noted accomplishment, a compelling testa

ment to the irresistible pull that Manifest Destiny --

then purely hypothetical -- exerted on the American

consciousness.

There is little difference between the 1820 fourth

state and the 1820 third state of the Melishs 1820

Map of the United States with Contiguous British &

Spanish Possessions. The single apparent difference is

the alteration of the total population column changed

to read from 81,629,903 to 18,629,903. More

substantial changes are manifest in the third state of

the 1820 edition.

The third is the rst state of Melishs map to be

published from nine plates. It extends southward

beyond 16 north latitude and embraces the southernhalf of Mexico, part of Guatemala, all of Cuba,

Jamaica Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands,

and the southern Bahamas. The inset map has also

has also been extended southward to 6 north latitude.

A second General Statistical Table has been added

in the southwest corner of the main map, in which

the population table column is incorrectly given as

81,629,903.

In the old statistical table the following changes are

noted: Arkansas Territory is added below Alabama ;

Ceded to U.S. by Treaty inserted before Floridis;

Territory is dropped after Missouri; and a new

Missouri Territory is inserted.

The Tennessee-Kentucky border east of the

Tennessee River has been moved northward.Christian C.H. in southern Kentucky is changed to

Hopkinsville.

Philda is added in north central Kentucky. In

Illinois the following are deleted : Ceded by the Sac

& Fox Indians 3 Nov. 1804Indian Bondy, Indian

By., I Boundary, and three dotted boundaries

adjacent to these designations. Place names added

in Illinois are Alton, Vandalia, Carlisle, Covington,

Browns Ville, Vienna, Hamburg, America, Golconda,

Carnir, Palestine and Harrisonville.

In Missouri the names Jackson, Boonville, and

Bluff Town are added Herculaneum is relocated,

Bonhomme R. is deleted, and the nal Y in Missouri

Territory is move westward beyond the limits of the

State of Wisconsin.The oblique name Arkansaw Territory is

replaced by Arkansas Territory, lettered horizontally;

is changed to Arkansaw District is changed to

Arkansas District; and Cedran and Lawrence are

introduced as new names in Arkansas Territory.

In Indiana Ceded at Ft. Wayne Sept. 1809 is

deleted along with eight dotted Indian boundaries;

Fredonia, Mt. Carmel, Palmyra, and Terre Haute are

added; Ft. Hairrson is relocated ; and several roads

and trails in the southern part o the state are rerouted.

Additions in Ohio include N. Haven, Huron,

Mecca, Putney, Woodseld, Burlington, Hillsboro,

Wilmington, Xenia, and Troy. A dotted Indian

boundary is deleted in the western part of the State.

Deletions in Mississippi include Yazoo Lands

Ceded by the Choctaws Indian Boundary and

several dotted boundaries. In the same State the

names Warrington, Monticello, Holmville, Medville,

Shieldsborg, and Cotton Gin Pt. are added from

Natchez to Stephens.

An unnamed canal (obviously the Erie) is added to

north central New York State. The designation Gulf ofMexico has been moved slightly southward.

On the inset map are added the names Merida and

Caribes, latitude numbers 8, 9, and 10, and three

unnamed tributaries to a southern branch of the

Orinoco River.

The following modications are noted along the

U.S. - Mexican boundary, established by the 1819

treaty: the dot-dash boundary line has been completed

along the 42 parallel between the Multnomah River

and the headwaters of the Arkansas and the boundary

line is moved and reengraved on the west bank of the

Arkansas between the junction of parallel 42 with

the 34 meridian (west of Washington, D.C.) and the

intersection of the 41 parallel with the 32 meridian.

Courtesy of Arader Galleries. For more

information, please email HBL1982@gmail.com or

call (212) 628-3668.