Wanted to share this 210-year-old dissected map of Louisiana and the Mississippi Territory, which I had authenticated as a First Edition, Second State by Christies.
The cartographer, William Darby, was a surveyor who served under Andrew Jackson during the War of 1812. He mapped these swamps and bayous on foot to create the most accurate survey of the era. It was so precise it was used to settle the 1819 boundary treaty between the U.S. and Spain, and is one of the first maps that includes New Orleans after the French sold it to the USA. Also of interest is that it shows the Deep South just before Mississippi and Alabama officially became states.
My parents found it in their attic and thought it was a decoration, lol.
u/No-Squash-4082 — 13 days ago