Historic Map : Burr Map of The West Indies, 1834, Vintage Wall Art

This is a detailed first edition map of the West Indies issued by David H. Burr. Centered on the island of Hispaniola (Santo Domingo), it covers the Caribbean from southern Florida, south as far as the Gulf of Panama and the Spanish Main, and east to Barbados and the Lesser Antilles. The Bahamas (Bahamas Islands), parts of Honduras, the Panama Bay, Guatemala and Nicaragua are also included. The map identifies the Island of Guanhani or Cat Island, in the Bahamas, the ‘first land discovered by Columbus in America upon this Island, he landed Oct. 12 1492.' Towns, rivers, mountains and various other important topographical details are noted. Elevation throughout is rendered by hachure and political and regional territories are color-coded.

According to Ristow, although Burr is credited on the title page, he left this atlas incomplete. He was appointed as topographer to the U.S. Post Office, and of the siin xty-three maps finally included in this atlas, only completed eight. The rest of the maps were then completed by Illman and Pilbrow in Burr's style. This map was ‘Entered according to act of Congress in the year 1834 by Thomas Illman in the Clerk's office of the District Court for the Southern District of New York', but was not published until the atlas was released in 1835. Published by D. S. Stone in Burr's New Universal Atlas.