Historic Map : Mitchel Map of The Pacific Ocean and Australia, 1849, Vintage Wall Art

This is a fine example of S. A. Mitchell's 1849 map of the Pacific, Polynesia, and Australia. Centered on the Sandwich or Hawaiian Islands, this map covers the entirety of the pacific Basin from the Aleutian Islands to New eland and the Straits of Magellan, and from Sumatra to the coasts of America. Mitchell identifies many of the Polynesian, Micronesian, and Melanesian Islands as well as, Japan, Korea, and Alaska. Noteworthy remarks on the lands and peoples of Oceania appear in the lower right quadrant under the title. In the lower left quadrant part of the Antarctica is detailed along with the track of the 1840 U.S. exploring expedition in this region. Political and topographical features are noted and color coded with elevation rendered by hachure.

The whole is engraved and colored in Mitchell's distinctive style with green border work and vivid pastels. Mitchell published this chart in his atlas from 1846 to the late 1850s before discontinuing the series and selling his map plates to DeSilver. This map was issued in the 1849 edition of the New Universal Atlas. It was the last edition of that atlas to be published by Mitchell prior to selling the plates and rights to the atlas to Thomas Cowperthwait in 1850.