Vandermaelen was the son of a wealthy industrialist who abandoned his father's business to follow a career in cartography. His goal was to produce the first atlas ever published in which every map was drawn on the same projection and to the same scale (1: 1,641,836), with each map covering an area of approximately 20 degrees of longitude (from Paris) and 6 degrees of latitude. Because of the consistent scale and projection, the maps could be joined together to form a huge globe that would measure over 25 feet in diameter. Vandermaelen had the only known globe constructed from his maps, requiring a special room for its display. It was also the first lithographic atlas ever published. There was one edition of the atlas, published in 1825-27, and the subscription list shows that only 810 copies were sold. Koeman called his Atlas Universel, "One of the most remarkable world atlases ever made. Far ahead of its time."

This finely engraved and extremely detailed map covers the region from just south of the Chesapeake to Long Island, and up to Cape Cod, showing all or part of North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, New York and Long Island, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. There is good detail of the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays and the counties, towns, rivers, roads, mountains, rivers and islands. The map has extensive notes on commerce, government, religion, revenues and weather. A large table gives state by state populations, showing growth by decade for 1790, 1800, and 1810. Expanded details for 1820 include populations for whites, slaves and free blacks, as well as populations of non-citizens, and information on the type of employment, broken down by agriculture, commerce and manufacturing. The second table gives the total populations for Indians by state. The "Atlas Universel" contained 400 lithographed maps in 6 volumes. It was the first atlas to present all the maps on the same scale (1: 1,641,836). There was only one edition of this scarce atlas, published in 1825-27, and the subscription list shows that only 810 copies were sold.

References: Phillips (A) #747, Imago Mundi, Vol. 24

Condition: B+

Attractive original color with light offsetting primarily confined to the Atlantic Ocean and explanation table.