| Method | Steel engraved with original hand colour |
| Artist | Walker, John and Charles |
| Published | Published under the Superintendence of the Society for Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. J & C Walker Sculpt. Published by Chapman & Hall 186 Strand 15 Oct. 1842. |
| Dimensions | 315 x 400 mm |
| Notes |
The most well-known and widely distributed atlas map of the Republic of Texas, engraved by John and Charles Walker for the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. The map shows northern Mexico and what is now the southwestern United States, published in 1842, between the declaration of the Republic of Texas in 1836 and its annexation by the United States at the end of 1845. Texas' admission to the Union resulted in the Mexican-American War, the conclusion of which, in 1848, saw the ceding of Nueva California, also mapped here, to the United States. The territory acquired through the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, known as the Mexican Cession, encompassed modern day California, Nevada, and Utah, most of Arizona, and parts of Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico. In the current map, the borders of the Republic of Texas are marked in green hand colour, recognising the Republic's claim on all territory to the Rio Grande, rather than the border on the Rio Nueces declared by Mexico. Mexican territory is outlined in yellow, with the northern border with the Columbia territory marked as a straight line running above the Great Salt Lake, and down the Sierra Verde to the Texan border. The map also contains numerous details of frontier exploration, notes on the natural features of the region, including a Petrified Forest near the upper reaches of the Colorado River, and comments on indigenous settlements, including a 12th century Aztec residence described by Humboldt. 'The Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge' (SDUK), founded in 1826 and lasting only until 1848, was a Whiggish London organisation that published inexpensive texts intended to adapt scientific and similarly high-minded material for the rapidly expanding reading public. The Society's main purpose was to encourage universal literacy by publishing numbers of books of good quality that would be affordable to all. It was established mainly at the instigation of Lord Brougham with the objects of publishing information to people who were unable to obtain formal teaching, or who preferred self-education. Over 200 maps and plans were produced, first sold as part works on subscription and from 1844 in a variety of bound atlases. John Walker (fl. 1813-1873) and Charles Walker (1799-1872) were British cartographers, geographers, and map engravers, and the sons of the engraver and Admiralty hydrographer, John Walker (fl. 1783-1831). John, the better known of the two sons, was a founding member of the Royal Geographic Society. A third brother, Thomas (fl. 1805-1865), succeeded his father as a hydrographer to the Admiralty. Condition: Minor time toning to edges of sheet. Blank on verso. |
| Framing | unmounted |
| Price | £650.00 |
| Stock ID | 53478 |