Holland Map 1831 Philadelphia Finley Atlas Print - Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht, The Hague

This map of Holland was published by Anthony Finley of Philadelphia and engraved by Young & Delleker for A New General Atlas, comprising a complete set of maps representing the grand divisions of the globe, dated 1831. The sheet measures 22 by 28 centimeters and is printed in full color. The atlas was first issued in 1824 and appeared annually until 1834, with new maps added and others updated each year. This copy has the 1831 edition of Atlas Classica bound at the back, a common feature of the later editions, and the whole holds 72 maps. The engravers Young & Delleker were Philadelphia craftsmen, and their clean line work gives the sheet a crisp look that the full color sets off well. The title page of the atlas was written and engraved by Jos. Perkins, and the atlas was a favorite of American schools in the 1820s and 1830s.

Finley's atlas was a standard American reference of its day, bound in half leather and marbled boards with Finley's Modern and Ancient Atlas stamped in gold on the spine. Some maps in it, such as the sheets for New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia, run across two pages, and maps of Liberia and Florida were added in the years that followed. A sheet of Holland in such a book reminds us how closely American readers followed Europe in the years after Napoleon. The small format makes the country easy to take in at a glance, and the full color separates its divisions clearly.

Those who collect early Philadelphia atlases, a family with roots in Holland, or a student of Philadelphia publishing will find a fitting gift here. TheMapVault's Burr sheet of the same year shows the Kingdom of the Netherlands from a New York press, whereas this Finley map is the Philadelphia view of Holland alone. 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.