Chart of the Coast of America Thro the Gulph of Florida ... Through the Gulph of Florida To the Entrance of the Gulph of Mexico by CLARK, Matthew (1714-1798) - 1790

[Boston: Matthew Clark, 1790. Engraved map on two folding sheets joined, irregularly shaped as issued, sheet size approximately 39 5/8 x 25 inches. Expert restoration at the folds. Chart numbers 17 and 18. Printed cartographic Americana of the greatest rarity: a map the Florida coast from the first American-made atlas, "the first totally American production of its kind" (Garvan).

Following the American Revolution, as the United States began to form a political identity within their newly-defined boundaries, American cartographers began to wrest control from their former colonial rulers on how those boundaries would be depicted. In 1784, Abel Buell, a Connecticut silversmith and engraver, produced the first map of the United States published in America; in 1789, Christopher Colles, a New York engineer, would begin publishing strip maps of American roads; and in 1790, Matthew Clark, a Boston merchant and auctioneer, published the country's very first atlas. Clark's business largely revolved around West Indian goods. "Constantly on the docks and involved in coastal shipping, he saw the need for and had access to local navigational information" (Garvan). Partnering with engraver and printseller John Norman, Clark announced his intention in the 22 February 1790 issue of the Boston Gazette: "When so many attempts are making toward the advancing of the interests of the arts and manufactures in this Country -- when the vast extent of sea coast on the American shores, and the numerous and dangerous rocks, shoals, &c. are considered, the utility of such a work will be readily admitted -- more especially when there are so few charts of this coast extant, and those drawn on an inconsiderable scale." The charts referred to were those by Holland and Des Barres in The Atlantic Neptune, Thornton & Fisher in the fourth book of the English Pilot and charts by Sayer & Bennett in the North American Pilot. The charts from those British works were largely unavailable to the New England ship captains who traded cargo up and down the east coast with the local price fluctuations for their goods. Clark, however, realized that the financial success of his atlas would depend largely on whether the Yankee captains felt they could trust his never-before-American-made charts. He therefore contracted with Osgood Carleton, a noted Boston mathematician, and the Boston Marine Society, to endorse their accuracy. Although the original prospectus suggested that the work, published by subscription, would contain 15 charts, the final atlas contained 18 charts, joined as pairs to create 9 irregularly-shaped mapsheets, depicting the coast from Cape Breton all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. Advertised as "just published" in the 5 July 1790 issue of the Boston Gazette, the charts could be purchased as an atlas for 36 shillings, or individual charts at 2 shillings each. Cartographically, Clark's charts are based on Des Barres and others; however, they do contain significant additional data from local knowledge, leading Carleton to declare them as "more accurate than any before published." Furthermore, "as an adaptation for a specific purpose, these charts show a great deal of imagination and ability. Instead of simply compiling details or republishing old surveys, they increased the scale of the coastal areas ... The water areas were restricted to a narrow coastal corridor with no references to distances to or from London or Europe" (Garvan). In short, they were distinctly American, and their success engendered the birth of American cartography. In Boston, Norman would go on to produce his own American Pilot the following year in competition to Clark; and in 1795, Matthew Carey in Philadelphia would publish America's first terrestrial atlas. Clark's Charts are extraordinarily rare. "These were working charts and their rarity today ... must be attributed in part to their having been worn out from use at sea" (McCorkle). Only eight complete sets are known: Yale; John Carter Brown Library; Boston Atheneum; Boston Public Library; Library Company of Philadelphia; Clements Library; New York Public Library; and the Library of Congress. Upon their acquisition of a set in 1987, the Clements Library declared Clark's Charts to be "one of the most desirable rarities of American cartographic literature" (Bosse).

Beatrice B. Garvan, "Matthew Clark's Charts One Significant Example of Yankee Enterprise" in Philadelphia Printmaking American prints before 1860. Edited by Robert F. Looney. (West Chester, Pennsylvania, 1976) pp.43-69; Guthorn pp. 7, 43 & 96; Phillips 3667 (quoting the Boston Gazette prospectus in full); Ristow p.224; McCorkle, American Emergent 51; David Bosse, "The World of Maps" in The American Magazine, Vol. 3., No. 1 (Clements Library, Spring-Summer 1987); Evans 21738; ESTC W18996; Wheat & Brun 626 and 627.