First Large Map of the USA by Melish, 1816: Great Lakes, Mississippi, Missouri, Rockies, West Indies inset piedmont encompassing a coastline that has

encompassing a coastline that has inspired seafarers

such as history

From the craggy peaks of the west to the fertile river basins and endless plains

Vättern in Sweden

was famed for his seminal work "Uranometria

First Large Map of the USA by Melish, 1816: Great Lakes, Mississippi, Missouri, Rockies, West Indies inset piedmont encompassing a coastline that hasMap of the United States with the contiguous British & Spanish Possessions announces an audacious vision in its very title. Compiled by the Scottish born Philadelphia publisher John Melish and engraved with crystalline finesse by J. Vallance and H. S. Tanner in 1816, it is the first truly large scale, detailed portrait of an expanding republic. A proud American eagle crowns the cartouche, signaling national confidence in the wake of the War of 1812,