This map of Tennessee was first issued in Aaron Arrowsmith’s and Samuel Lewis’ collaborative work published in Philadelphia in 1804.

Samuel Lewis was heavily involved in the production of the earliest atlas published in the United States by Mathew Carey in 1795. He compiled and supplied many of the very earliest maps of specific states present in that work. Following this success, he embarked on his own publishing career. His “New and Elegant General Atlas” comprised of 63 maps from all over the world was first issued in 1804 in Philadelphia. To ensure accuracy for the mapping of lands outside the United States, Lewis obtained the collaboration of Aaron Arrowsmith, who was regarded as one of the if not the foremost cartographer of Great Britain during this period.

Compiled by Samuel Lewis, this is one of the earliest commercially available maps of Tennessee. Of note is the tract of land south of the border in modern Alabama marked as Tennessee Company. This was one of the more notorious participants in a series of land frauds which persisted in the southeastern United States in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. 

The example offered for sale is from the 1812 edition of the work published in Boston by Thomas and Andrews. [USA9984]