Description
Scholar Walter Ristow describes Finley as follows:
“Little is known about his background, but he was probably born around 1790. Judging from contributors to his atlases, he apparently moved in the same Philadelphia circles of engravers and compilers as other contemporary publishers. Finley also borrowed freely from European sources in compiling his atlas.”
Ristow quotes a review of Finley’s New General Atlas in the July 1824 issue of the North American Review:
“[T]he number of elegant maps and atlases which have come from the press within a short time in the United States, is a most flattering proof of increased attention of the community to the important study of geography. The present work contains sixty maps, about half of which are devoted to the American continent, and the remained to other parts of the world, chiefly to Europe. The engraving is done almost uniformly with remarkable distinctness and the face of the maps is frequently beautiful, not overloaded with a confusion of useless names.”
Condition: Generally good, with the usual overall light wear, toning, soiling, handling, soft creases, wear and minor openings at folds and intersections. Map slightly detached at a cover fold. Covers good with usual overall toning, wear, abrasions
Reference:
Ristow, Walter W. American Maps & Mapmakers: Commercial Cartography in the 19th Century. Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press, 1985. pp. 268-269.
