Map, Military, Civil War, United States, James Wyld, London, 1861

Wyld’s Military Map Of The United States,
The Northern States, And The Southern Confederate States
James Wyld, London: c. 1861
Hand-colored engraving, dissected and laid down on linen
Folding into brown embossed cloth covers with label printed in green
35 x 24.5 inches overall
7.25 x 4 inches covers
$3,800

Detailed folding pocket map of the Eastern United States published in England at the beginning of the Civil War to show the division between the Union and Confederate States, including arsenals, forts and military posts, and railways. The map extends from portions of Texas and “Kanzas” [sic] in the west to the Bahamas and most of Cuba in the east. Large inset maps show the “City of Washington and District of Columbia,” “Country Round Washington [D.C.]”; “Pensacola Bay and its Fortifications”; and “Charleston and the Harbour.” The Confederate states are outlined in blue and labeled “Slave States” in the map legend. At this early point in the war, the publisher included the border states of Maryland, Missouri and Kentucky with the “slave states,” under the erroneous assumption these so-called “border states” would join the Confederacy. The Union States are outlined in green and tan, with “British Territory” (present-day Canada) in pink. The present day Dakotas are labeled “Chippewa” and “Dacotah.” The highly detailed and comprehensive map attests to the intense interest in the unfolding events of the war among the British public. Britain was officially neutral during the Civil War, but there was active debate concerning whether they should recognize and continue to trade with the Confederacy, given that the Britain Empire had long before abolished slavery as an abhorrent practice. The map is undated but the example in Stephenson’s standard reference on Civil War maps gives the date of 1861.

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