One of the first American pioneers in the field of cartography was Matthew Carey (1760-1839). Born in Dublin, Ireland, he arrived in Philadelphia in 1784 with just 12 guineas to his name. He was one of the founders of the ‘Columbia Magazine’ and then published the ‘American Museum’. Geographical texts were being published in the newly formed United States, the first was by Jedidiah Morse whose ‘American Geography’ in 1789 contained 2 maps. This was followed by Benjamin Workman’s ‘Elements of Geography’ with 3 maps. Collections of sea charts were available by Matthew Clark in 1790 and John Norman in 1791. The idea of a small American atlas or gazetteer was first demonstrated by Joseph Scott in 1795[94]. Carey prepared his own ‘American Pocket Atlas’ the following year. Issued with 19 maps of the United States there was a second edition in 1801. The 1805 issue was expanded with a map to illustrate the Louisiana Purchase of 1803.

In this 1814 edition three further new maps were introduced; those of the Upper Territories, Mississippi Territory and Missouri Territory. The latter incorporates information from the Lewis & Clark expedition (Schwartz). The folding tables at the end include population statistics from the Census of 1810 and Export figures for each state. A good example. Howes C137; Phillips 1372 & 4523; Ristow 151; Sabin 10856; Schwartz & Ehrenberg (1980) p. 231; Walsh (1988) p. 38.