The maps from The Illustrated Atlas were first published in serial form to a target audience that led insular lives due to the expense and hardship of travel. All that changed as the progress of the nineteenth century brought swift and dramatic changes in public awareness of far away places. Tallis' maps no doubt played an important role in this dramatic awakening. These maps not only provided up-to-date geographical knowledge, but also used vignette views within the map's design to show the native people and their occupations, cities and points of interest. The maps hark back to a cartographic tradition from the Dutch mapmakers of the seventeenth century with finely engraved decorative borders. The maps were drawn and engraved by John Rapkin with views drawn and engraved by a number of prominent artists. The maps were issued as a complete volume from 1851 until about 1865. Some of the maps were also published in other history books published by Tallis including British Colonies and, without the vignettes, in geographical dictionaries and encyclopedias until about 1880.

This is the first state of this fine steel-engraved map. Texas is shown with its original, large state borders that include much of present-day New Mexico and extend into Colorado. Two vignettes show Mexican peasantry and the ancient Mayan ruins at Uxmal. The very decorative border incorporates native plants of the region. Map drawn and engraved by John Rapkin, vignettes drawn by H. Warren and engraved by J. Rogers.

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Condition: A

Original outline color in the map with later color in the decorative elements. There are a few faint spots along the centerfold, and a tiny hole just above the title in the top blank margin.