- Title: A New Map of the State of California, the Territories of Oregon & Utah, and the Chief Part of New Mexico
- Author: Thomas, Cowperthwait & Co.
- Date: 1853
- Condition: Good - mild toning throughout, scattered light foxing
- Inches: 12 3/4 x 15 3/4 [Image]
- Centimeters: 32.38 x 40.01 [Image]
- Product ID: 308285
This mid-19th century map depicts the expanding western United States, showcasing one of the earliest representations of California as a state alongside the newly established territories of Utah and New Mexico. It's an updated version of a map originally featured in S. Augustus Mitchell's Universal Atlas of 1849, which was significant for introducing the vast territories recently acquired from Mexico in 1848 to the American public. In 1850, Thomas, Cowperthwait & Co. acquired the rights to Mitchell's atlas and revised it, incorporating the changes resulting from the Compromise of 1850, which divided the newly acquired lands into the state of California and the territories of Utah and New Mexico. This map reflects these important political and territorial developments, making it a valuable historical document of the rapidly changing American West.
Thomas, Cowperthwait & Co. was a Philadelphia-based publishing company that was active in the mid-19th century. The company was founded by Joseph Thomas and H. C. Cowperthwait in 1835, with the goal of producing high-quality, affordable educational materials for American schools and families before expanding to sell a range of geographical materials, including their well-known New Universal Atlas.