Denmark Map 1823 Fielding Lucas General Atlas Print - Denmark, Copenhagen, Jutland, Zealand

This scarce map of Denmark was made by Fielding Lucas Jr. and appeared in his General Atlas, published in Baltimore in 1823. The catalog notes that the map is quite scarce on the market, and it is a fine example of an American view of a European kingdom in the early nineteenth century. The sheet gives the kingdom of Denmark in the clean, simple style of Lucas's atlas work, with the borders and coasts clearly set out. For readers on the American side of the Atlantic, a map like this was a window on a country that few of them would ever visit. The sheet has the plain charm of early American atlas work, and it makes an unusual choice for anyone who likes maps of Europe made across the Atlantic.

Fielding Lucas Jr. lived from 1781 to 1854 and was a prominent American cartographer, engraver, artist and public figure. He was born in Fredericksburg, Virginia, moved to Philadelphia as a teenager and settled in Baltimore, where he launched a successful cartographic career. His first atlas was announced in 1812, with production taking place between September 1812 and December 1813, and bound copies of A new and elegant general atlas were available early the next year, beating Carey to market by about two months. He later published A General Atlas Containing Distinct Maps of all the known Countries in the World in the early 1820s.

Anyone who collects early American atlases, a family with roots in Denmark, or a reader of Baltimore history will find a thoughtful gift here. TheMapVault's Arrowsmith map of Denmark from 1842 shows the kingdom from a London press, whereas this Lucas sheet is an American work of two decades earlier. Like every print in the collection, it ships unframed and is available in a full range of sizes, from a compact desk piece to a large-format statement print. It would suit a study or a hall.