GEOGRAPHY MADE EASY: BEING AN ABRIDGMENT OF THE AMERICAN GEOGRAPHY. CONTAINING, ASTRONOMICAL GEOGRAPHY - DISCOVERY AND GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF AMERICA - GENERAL VIEW OF THE UNITED STATES - PARTICULAR ACCOUNTS OF THE THIRTEEN UNITED STATES OF AMERICA...

Boston: By I. Thomas and Ebenezer T. Andrews, 1790.. v,322,iv pp. plus eight maps (one folding) engraved by Amos Doolittle. 12mo. Contemporary calf, gilt leather label, raised bands. Chipped at spine ends, moderate edge wear, hinges reinforced with white paper tape. Contemporary ownership signature on front free endpaper, some toning, occasional minor foxing. Still, a very good copy. In a half morocco and cloth clamshell box, spine gilt with raised bands. Second edition of the first American geography textbook. First printed in New Haven in 1784, this rather scarce second edition was printed in Boston by Isaiah Thomas. The original edition had only two maps; the present edition expands that number to eight, depicting a range of subjects around the globe. The most important map is the folding map of the United States, often missing in this book. It is one of the earliest maps of the young United States to be printed in America, and shows the westernmost states reaching the Mississippi River, and a portion of the Louisiana territory as far north as Minnesota. The U.S. map also identifies the territories inhabited by the Cherokee, Chickasaw, and Arcanses Indians. The frontispiece map is a double-hemisphere world map "Agreeable to the last Discoveries in the South Seas." The other maps depict the Solar System, a peculiar map to "shew the figure of the Earth," and maps of South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. The text provides an "Astronomical Geography" and extensive geographical information for each state and province, including the western territory and the Spanish dominions of Louisiana, Florida, old and new Mexico, and California, as well as for the major countries and regions of the world. The text is followed by a four-page bookseller's catalogue titled "Books Sold by John W. Folsom."

A most important American geography, and the first American book to describe the western country. WHEAT & BRUN 7, 8, 116, 702, 744, 841, 864. EVANS 22681. SABIN 50936. HOWES M842.