"[2 Maps in Report] A Map of North America, Denoting the Boundaries of the Yearly Meetings of Friends and the Locations of the Various Indian Tribes [and] Aboriginal America, East of the Mississippi", Religious Society of Friends
Subject: North America, Texas
Period: 1844 (published)
Publication: Religious Society of Friends Towards the Indian Tribes…
Color: Hand Color
Size:
5.9 x 9 inches
15 x 22.9 cm
This lot contains two interesting maps illustrating the status of Indian nations in the United States in the middle of the 19th century. The two maps are included in the original Some Account of the Conduct of the Religious Society of Friends Towards the Indian Tribes in the Settlement of the Colonies of East and West Jersey and Pennsylvania, which was published by the Religious Society of Friends, or Quakers as they are more commonly known. It was produced for the Aborigines' Committee of the Meetings of Sufferings in London, 1844. The Quakers held these meetings every year, in which they focused on the wrongs suffered by aboriginal peoples all over the world. Both of these maps were drawn by Jim Bowden and lithographed by H. Clark. The report, 247 pages, is rebound in quarter leather with tips over marbled boards.
A. A Map of North America, Denoting the Boundaries of the Yearly Meetings of Friends and the Locations of the Various Indian Tribes (21.2 x 18.2"). This map shows the United States all the way to the West Coast with a great Republic of Texas reaching into present-day Colorado. The United States has no claims to the Southwest yet, and the northwest border with Canada and the U.S. has been left undefined due to the unsettled claims in that region. The extent of immigration and developed territories is confined to east of the Mississippi. The map names all the known tribes and where they are located with a color key at left that also informs us that the Catawba, Uchee, and Natchez Indians are extinct. A key shows the location of annual Friends meetings and a table at the right notes the number of tribal members of each tribe and also how many had, at that point, been moved from their homelands.
B. Aboriginal America, East of the Mississippi (4.3 x 6.3"). The map shows the United States to the Mississippi River. It names the known tribes and locations with a color key at right that names the Algonquin, Dahcota, Huron - Iroquois, Catawba, Cherokee, Uchee, Natchez, and Mobilian Indians.
References:
Condition: B+
The large folding map is clean and colorful with faint offsetting at right and a 3" binding tear at left that has been closed on verso with binder's tape. The small map has a hint of toning and minor foxing in the margins. Text is very good with an occasional spot of foxing. New binding has minimal wear.