The beginning of the nineteenth century saw a period of rapid market growth and innovation in the map publishing world. Increased literacy and public interest in new frontiers and colonies overwhelmed the market because it was oriented toward the small, affluent market of the previous century. With the intent to fill this void, The Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge (SDUK) was founded in 1828 in London, by Lord Brougham and a group of men dedicated to the education of the aspiring working class and the Utilitarian ideal of 'Knowledge is Power.' The society produced an array of education materials, but the series of maps was one of their most successful ventures. A number of engravers and printers were used to produce the maps, which eventually exceed 200 sheets, and continued to be published after the Society as a whole ceased to function.

This early and very detailed steel engraved map of Florida was published eleven years before statehood. The western panhandle, from Apalachicola to the Perdido River, is shown in an inset on the same scale. South Florida is virtually empty of settlement, but is bisected by a long Indian Path. A large reservation for the Seminole Indians takes in much of the interior of the peninsula and the region around Charlotte Harbor. Lake Okeechobee (here Lake Macaco) is incorrectly located, which is a common error on maps of this period because the region was largely unexplored. The first railroad was chartered three years before this map was issued, but we find no mention of it here. An early map of Florida, engraved by J. & C. Walker and published by Baldwin & Cradock.

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Condition: A

Contemporary outline color with light toning along the sheet's edges and a narrow top margin, as issued.