The Best Kentucky, Tennessee & Southern Illinois Regional Atlas Map of the First Half of the 19th Century -- Early Edition with 9 Unnamed Counties in Western Tennessee

Gorgeous example of this rare early edition of Tanner's Map of Kentucky, Tennessee and part of Illinois, from Tanner's monumental American Atlas, without question the finest of all 19th Century American commercial atlases.

This rare early edition can be differentiated by the inclusion of Illinois in the map title and the nine new (and still unnamed) counties with boundaries shown in western Tennessee.

The map is hand colored by counties and includes towns, roads, rivers, mountains and mileage between major towns along the primary roads, which are illustrated in exceptional detail for a map of the 1820s.

By extending the coverage of the Mississippi River north to St. Louis and the mouth of the Missouri River, the inclusion of southern Illinois on the map illustrates how to Ohio River Valley and Mississippi River Valley were integrally connected in the 1820s. The details along the Mississippi River, from St. Charles, Missouri to Memphis, Tennessee and Fort Pickering, captures the region in fine detail.

The issuance of this atlas represented a landmark in American cartographic publishing history, marking the first time a large format American published atlas employed the engraving quality of its European competitors. Tanner conceived the atlas as the first large format systematic mapping of the US and began the project with a prospectus issued in 1818 and thereafter began issuing the maps in subscription format in folio groups beginning in 1819. The completed atlas in bound form was issued for the first time in 1823, and is perhaps the most sought after of all American atlases.

Separate maps from this atlas are scarce on the market.