Description
Atlas of the state of South Carolina, made under the authority of the Legislature ; prefaced with a geographical, statistical and historical map of the state. MILLS, Robert (1781 - 1855) - TANNER, Henry Schenck (1786-1858). Philadelphia: J. & W. Kite, printers, 1838. Folio (22 x 14 inches). Double-page lithographed title-page with map of the State of South Carolina surrounded by letterpress topographical and historical information by A. Finley of Philadelphia, with original hand-colour in full; 28 double-page engraved maps of the districts of South Carolina, including 7 folding, with original hand-colour in outline, engraved by Tanner and his 'Associates' after the work of various surveyors (browned, folds strengthened on verso with linen tape at an early date). Original calf backed blue paper boards (a bit worn), in modern green clamshell box. Second edition of the first atlas of South Carolina, and of any state, first published in 1825. With one state map by Finley and 28 district maps which were "improved for Mills' Atlas" from surveys done for John Wilson's 1822 'Map of South Carolina', which had also been engraved by Tanner. These latter maps are very detailed: they show the names of land owners, local taverns, Churches, mills, roads, swamps, and mountains. The colony, named Carolina after King Charles I, which became divided in 1710 into South Carolina and North Carolina, was one of the thirteen original colonies of North America. Spanish and French explorers arriving in the 16th century found a land inhabited by many small tribes of Native Americans, including the Cherokees and the Catawbas, and their attempts at settlement failed. By 1670, however, a permanent English settlement was established on the coast near present day Charleston which became an important center of commerce and culture. But the interior was settled more slowly by farmers and traders, who struggled with the diminishing tribes of Native Americans, who were forced to move ever westwards. In the 1820s, as the surveys for this atlas were being made, land speculators officially called for the removal of Native American communities that impeded white settlement. These particularly included the tribes of South Carolina, "the Cherokee, Choctaw, Creek, Chickasaw, and Seminole Indians of Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida--the so-called Five Civilized Tribes. Thomas L. McKenney, head of the federal Indian Office from 1824 to 1830, viewing American Indians as children, proposed their removal west of the Mississippi River. Some missionaries, eager to convert and "civilize" Indians in isolated western lands, welcomed his rhetoric. In 1829, newly elected President Andrew Jackson endorsed the Indian-removal campaign. Signed into law on 28 May 1830, the Indian Removal Act empowered the president to exchange Western lands for lands held by eastern tribes" (ANB online). By the time of the American Revolution, "South Carolina was one of the richest colonies in America. Its merchants and planters formed a strong governing class, contributing many leaders to the fight for independence. More Revolutionary War battles and skirmishes were fought in South Carolina than any other state, including major engagements at Sullivan's Island, Camden, Kings Mountain, and Cowpens. South Carolina ratified the United States Constitution on May 23, 1788, becoming the eighth state to enter the union
With the invention of the cotton gin, cotton became a major crop, particularly in the upcountry. A new capital city, Columbia , was founded in the center of the state, reducing somewhat the political power of the lowcountry elite. Dissatisfaction with the federal government and its tariff policies grew during this period, however. In the 1820s South Carolinian John C. Calhoun developed the theory of nullification, by which a state could reject any federal law it considered to be a violation of its rights. Armed conflict was avoided during this period, but by 1860 tensions between the state and the federal government reached a climax. Unhappy over restrictions on free trade and about calls for the abolition of slavery, South Carolina seceded from the union on December 20, 1860, the first of the Southern states to do so. When Confederate troops fired on Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor on April 12, 1861, the nation plunged into Civil War" (South Carolina State Library online). As a young man Mills studied architecture with James Hoban (1800-1802), Thomas Jefferson (1802-1803), and Benjamin Henry Latrobe (1803-1808), who introduced him to "Enlightenment thought and taught him to conceive architectonically, to appreciate the abstract dimension of stylistic expression, and to apply such progressive technical methods as the use of fire-resistant, lightweight brick and cement vaulting
.Mills's work in South Carolina between 1820 and 1829 is characterized by functionalism tempered by an adept use of more monumental features, especially the raised portico with side steps so favored in southern Palladian architecture
Mills evaluated canal and road construction, and he published proposals for further internal improvements in the "Atlas of the State of South Carolina" (1825) [as here] and in "Statistics of South Carolina" (1826). Mills moved from Columbia to Abbeville, South Carolina, in 1828, partly to supervise the erection of a courthouse to his designs and partly to reduce household expenditures. There he addressed steam locomotion and railroad development; his idea for an elevated iron-rimmed wooden track was adopted for the pioneering Charleston to Hamburg, South Carolina, line (1828-1829; later replaced because of rot)" (R. Windsor Liscombe for ANB). The principal engraver of these maps was Henry Tanner "a leading figure in establishing commercial map publishing in America [who] brought the atlas as a cartographic form to early maturity during the "golden age" of American copperplate printing. He combined the skills of a geographer with those of an editor and engraver to create authoritative maps during a period of unprecedented growth in topographical knowledge of North America. He represented the emergence in the world of American publishers of specialized maps, and he placed map compilation and atlas design on a newly scientific basis, introducing uniform map scales for maps in atlases and documentation of sources employed. He crucially reinforced the brief impetus Melish had given to the rise of homegrown American map publishing and set standards that later publishers took for granted" (Michael P. Conzen for ANB). The maps are: Charleston District (folding); Abbeville District surveyed by Wm. Robertson, 1820; Georgetown District surveyed by William Hemingway, 1820; Barnwell District, surveyed by Thomas Anderson. D.S., 1818 (folding); Beaufort District surveyed by C. Vignoles & H. Ravenel, 1820 (folding); Chester District by Charles Boyd. D.S. 1818; Chesterfield District; John Lowry, 1819; Colleton District by Samuel A. Rudock, 1820 (folding); Darlington District, 1820; Edgefield District by Thomas Anderson, 1817 (folding); Fairfield District by John Allen Tharp, 1820; Greenville District by George Salmon, 1820; Horry District by Harlee, 1820; Kershaw District by J. Boykin, 1820; Lancaster District, J. Boykin 1820; Lexington M. Coate, 1820; Laurens District by Henry Gray D.S., 1820; Marion District, Thomas Harlee D.S., 1818 (folding); Marlborough District; Newberry District by M. Coate, 1820; Orangeburg District by B. Busby, 1820 (folding); Pickens & Anderson formerly Pendleton District by Scribling, 1820; Richland District by Marmaduke Coate, 1820 - annotated in pencil with railroad routes; Spartanburg District by J. Whitter, 1820; Sumter District by S.H. Boykin, 1820 (folding); Union District by R. Thomson, 1820; Williamsburg District by I. Harlee; York District by Gordon Moore, 1820. Howes M625; Sabin 49113.
