Fine, Original Colored Example of the First Edition of the First Official Map of New Jersey

GORDON, Thomas. [Philadelphia, 1828]

New Jersey. GORDON, Thomas [Philadelphia, 1828] A Map of the State of New Jersey with part of the Adjoining States... 32 ½ x 55 ¼ inches.  Engraved map, segmented and mounted to original linen backing with powder blue silk selvage as originally issued, folding into marbled paper self-wrappers. Vibrant original wash and outline color. Two small stains at upper left, scattered very light foxing and soiling, but still an outstanding example.                                                                                                                

A superb example of the very scarce first edition of a landmark in the mapping of New Jersey—its first official map.  Due to this example’s folding format, its full wash coloring fully retains its original vibrance.  With this work, “New Jersey mapping had achieved a new high” (Snyder). Rumsey describes it as the “cornerstone map of New Jersey…by far the most accurate map to date.” Scrupulously revised over its period of publication, “the Gordon map stood out as the one authority for thirty years” (Snyder).  This beautiful work was engraved by the firm Henry S. Tanner of Philadelphia, arguably the premier map engraving company in the United States at the time

Although the New Jersey legislature recognized the need for a new map of the state as far back as 1799, action was not taken until 1822 when Thomas Gordon was commissioned to survey the state.  Working carefully and thoroughly, Gordon toiled for six years to produce this map.  It was compiled from both new field surveys conducted by Gordon himself as well as from the best available surveys. When completed, the New Jersey Legislature purchased 125 copies of the map and soon after authorized a second edition and purchased another 125 copies when it was re-published in 1833. While it is not known how many copies of the map were sold to private customers, the above extremely low publication numbers help explain the scarcity of the map today.

The result of Gordon’s arduous labor was a map of unprecedented accuracy: errors in position are of no more than three-quarters of a mile, which is indeed remarkable for the period. It was drawn at a scale of three miles to the inch and hence is extremely detailed. Places of worship as well as of industry – blast furnaces and forges, mills and glassworks – are marked. Taverns and even individual dwellings appear on the map. Townships are highlighted in wash coloring.  Published at the peak of canal building in the eastern United States, these waterways along with roads and turnpikes form a dense network throughout the state.

Thomas Gordon (1778-1848) was born in Amwell, New Jersey in 1778 and then settled in Trenton. He was trained as a lawyer, later serving as a judge in the Court of the Common Pleas.  However, like a number of Americans of the period, he ventured into other fields—in his case surveying and mapmaking. 

Gordon and Tanner published a revised edition of the map in 1833. In 1850 Robert Emley Hornor issued a new heavily revised edition, which he reissued in 1853 and again in 1854. In 1836 Gordon had also published a “Map of the City of Trenton and its vicinity.”

Snyder, J. P. Mapping of New Jersey, pp. 94-99; Rumsey 2273; Walter Ristow, American Maps and Mapmakers (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1985), pp. 115-117; The Mapping of New Jersey (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, pp. 94-99).

Price: $9,500.00