The First Large Scale Map of the State of South Carolina

A Map of South Carolina: Constructed and Drawn from the District Surveys Ordered by the Legislature... by John Wilson. Engraved by Henry S. Tanner

Philadelphia. 1822.

45 ½" x 60". Dissected and mounted on folding linen; original outline and light wash coloring; occasional staining, mended chipping on edges and corners of some panels. Overall very good condition. Very Rare.

This is the first large-scale map of South Carolina made after the establishment of the United States and the first official map of the state. Constructed from local manuscript surveys and compiled for use by state officials, it remained the foundation map for South Carolina until the Civil War. There is a large inset of Charleston Harbor. The State Legislature, recognizing the need for an accurate map of South Carolina, authorized the collection of local surveys and their compilation into an "official" map of the State. State civil and military engineer Major John Wilson was assigned the task of creating this ambitious map of South Carolina based on the latest surveys. It "was an expensive project", writes Ristow, "the total expenditure for the state map was upwards of ninety thousand dollars." It was printed by Henry Tanner, who wrote in his Memoir that, "Wilson's map is decidedly one of our best and most scientific maps, and was used in correcting the adjoining parts of Georgia and North Carolina." The Wilson map is one of the first true "official" maps, in that it was wholly conceived of and executed under the auspices of a state government. As such it is one of the important foundations in the history of American map publication, as well as a key work in the mapping of the American southeast.

Phillips, A List of Maps of America, p. 822; Ristow, American Maps and Mapmakers, pp. 126-128 & 209-210; Karpinski, Early Maps of Carolina and Adjoining Regions.