The Illustrated Hand-Book, a New Guide for Travelers through the United States of America. accompanied by a Large and Accurate Map

New York: Sherman & Smith, 1850 Book. Very Good. Hardcover. 16mo - over 5¾ - 6¾" tall. 16mo. (6x3¾ inches) Pp. 2 [advts], 233, 234 [blank]. Steel-engraved frontis, wood-engraved title vignette, 123 wood-engraved illustrations interspersed throughout the text, large folding hand-colored engraved map (21½ x 27 inches). Publisher's light green cloth, gilt lettering and design on front cover and spine, blind stamped on rear cover. Light wear to spine ends and corners, bookplate on inner cover. Light foxing to engraved frontis plate, a few tiny breaks at some fold junctions of map, 3 inch split to center of one fold. A very good copy and, with the exception noted, the map in very nice condition. New York: Sherman & Smith, 1850. First published in 1846, and reprinted with the same collation in 1847, '48, '49, and 1850. Rare in any of the early printings. The large folding map, with contemporary hand-coloring in outline is titled, "A New Map for Travelers through the United States of America showing the Rail Roads, Canals & Stage Roads. With the Distances..., Published by Sherman & Smith. New York, 1850" (entered 1846). The important map was first published in the 1846 edition and then updated for the editions of 1848, 1849 and this edition (1850). This fine map includes engraved pictorial vignettes and 4 inset maps. The insets include "Rail Road Route from New York to Philadelphia," "Rail Roads between the cities of New York, Boston, and Albany," "Rail Road and Canal Routes from Albany to Buffalo," and "Oregon, Northern California, Santa Fe, etc." The latter inset (first published in the 1846 edition) is important for showing regions before the Mexican War. The map extends as far west as central Texas. [Howes I: S-614; Howes II: 622; Sabin: 82928; [see] Wheat, Mapping the Transmississippi West, volume 3: p. 267]. .