COLLECTION NAME:
David Rumsey Historical Map Collection
Record
Author:
Henshaw, Frances A.
Date:
1823
Short Title:
(Description of) Virginia.
Publisher:
Manuscript
Publisher Location:
Middlebury, Vermont.
Type:
Text Page
Obj Height cm:
20
Obj Width cm:
17
Note:
At this point, Virginia is the largest state. The description is surrounded by scrollwork and a angel with wings at the top.
State/Province:
Virginia
Subject:
Children's Maps
Subject:
School
Full Title:
(Description of) Virginia.
List No:
2501N
Page No:
83
Series No:
44
Publication Author:
Henshaw, Frances A.
Pub Date:
1823
Pub Title:
Frances A. Henshaw's Book of Penmanship Executed at the Middlebury Female Academy April 29, 1823.
Pub Reference:
None found.
Pub Note:
Exquisite hand drawn maps of the states. Notwithstanding the title, this is a geography book hand drawn by a very promising student. It includes descriptions of Astronomical Geography, the Ptolemaic, Brahean and Copernican Systems, Comets, Great Circles, Equator, Meridian, Horizon, Colures, Tropics, Polar Circles, Zones, Climates, Latitude and Longitude, a section titled America, and 19 maps of the states with a descriptive page for each. The maps are copied from the 1805 edition of Carey's American Pocket Atlas, except for Ohio, which is from Arrowsmith and Lewis' Atlas, 1812, and Indiana, from an unknown source. The text is copied from Morse's Geography Made Easy, probably 1807, 11th edition, but certainly before the 12th edition (which was changed substantially); the text describing the maps is original. The only mystery is why she used such out of date sources if, in fact, she made this book in 1823. The penmanship is remarkable both in the execution of the maps and text. One of a kind. At the bottom of the title page: "presented to her son T.A. Post - Feb 4th 1872." Emma Willard led the Middlebury Female Seminary from 1807-19, see DAB. After Willard left, the school was continued informally until 1827 when it was revived. Henshaw lived from 1809-1873 (email from her great-great-great-grandson to us) so she would have been about 14 years old when she made these maps in 1823. She lived in Middlebury where her father, Daniel Henshaw, was a businessman. (thanks to Susan Schulten for some of these details).
Pub List No:
2501.000
Pub Type:
Manuscript Map
Pub Type:
National Atlas
Pub Maps:
19
Pub Height cm:
26
Pub Width cm:
21
Image No:
2501N
Authors:
Henshaw, Frances A.
Link To Source
(Description of) Virginia.
