Antique Maps
Nord America
Sohr, K. (Handtke, F.) · Glogau · C. Flemming · c. 1844
North America with Texas as an independent republic: a lithographed map drawn by Friedrich Handtke for Sohr's Hand-Atlas, Glogau, dated 1844 in an old hand.
FM-0257
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Collation & Technical Description
Lithographed map with outline and wash colour, verso blank. Sheet 44.5 x 35.5 cm.
Condition
Good condition.
References & Bibliography
atlassen.net, Sohr-Berghaus Hand-Atlas, 4e druk (1847-1850), with notes on the first edition of 1844 and on the pseudonym.
Description
Lithographed map of North America from the Hand-Atlas published under the name of Dr. K. Sohr by Carl Flemming in Glogau, Prussian Silesia, whose first edition appeared in 1844. Below the border: "Entw. u. gez. v. F. Handtke" and "Druck u. Verlag v. C. Flemming in Glogau", with a scale in German miles. An old pencil note in the lower margin dates the sheet 1844.
The map catches the continent before the great changes of the 1840s. Texas is outlined on its own as an independent republic; Mexico still runs north to the Oregon Country and west to the Pacific, taking in Upper and Lower California; the Oregon Country is set apart between the United States and British North America. In the north-west, Alaska and the Aleutians are coloured as Russian America, and Greenland is shown to the north-east. Central America, the West Indies and the northern edge of South America close the map to the south, with the Sandwich Islands set in the Pacific.
Historical Significance
"Dr. K. Sohr" is a pseudonym, most probably of the cartographer Friedrich Handtke, whose own name appears on this sheet. From 1847 the atlas also carried the name of Heinrich Berghaus, against his protest, and as the Sohr-Berghaus Hand-Atlas it was re-edited by Handtke into the 1880s. With Texas still independent and California still Mexican, this sheet predates the annexation of Texas in December 1845 and the Mexican cession of 1848. The later version of this map (FM-0134, dated 1853) shows the continent redrawn after the Mexican War, and the two together make the change plain.