Carte Des Etats-Unis D'Amerique et Du Cours Du Mississipi

Paris, 1784. No Binding. Very Good. 20 x 27 ½ inches. Original outline color; a few stains, else excellent condition. Separately published. A beautiful, crisp example of a map published shortly after the post-Revolutionary War treaty negotiations and to show its results. It was one of the first printed maps to have in its title the term United States ("Etats-Unis"), to depict the American flag, and to show the borders of the fledgling country as set out in the preliminary articles of the Treaty of Paris. The model for this map was clearly John Mitchell's, copies of which were used during the actual treaty negotiations. This map also followed Mitchell in extending the borders of some states all the way to the Mississippi River, which can be viewed as nascent expression of Manifest Destiny. However, Brion de la Tour added a number of forts not on the Mitchell map, including the 18 located in the Northeast that are listed at upper right and keyed to the map. Also, towns associated with the American Revolution that normally wouldn't appear on a map of this scale, such as Lexington, Saratoga, and Yorktown, are here. As did a number of maps that were published in Paris around the time of this one, the Brion de la Tour also celebrated Franco-American amity, with the flags of the two countries depicted together over a cannon. A table at the left lists the populations of each of the states. The map was originally published in 1783, and a later 1787 state is also known. McCorkle 784.2, cf. 783.4; Ristow, W. American Maps & Mapmakers, p. 63; Sellers & Van Ee 746.