Existing comment:
Henry S. Tanner
A Map of North America, from A New American Atlas Containing Maps of the Several States of the North American Union
1825
photo reproduction of hand-colored engraving
Tanner's map was the most detailed of its kind. The cartouche in the bottom left corner presented emblems associated with America's cultural identity -- in this case, Natural Bridge and Niagara Falls with the bald eagle -- as the symbols of natural dominance. Natural Bridge and Niagara Falls appear together, elided into a single landscape. Animals native to the United States populate the vista and carry the metaphor further. The National Intelligencer characterized Tanner's map as "patriotic as well as literary."
The David Rumsey Map Collection, David Rumsey Map Center, Stanford Libraries |