The 1833 MacRae-Brazier map of North Carolina, after lying dormant for two decades, made multiple reappearances in the 1850s. In Chapter 2, we’ll discuss the second state of the map, published by Wellington Williams in 1854.
There are, of course, numerous examples of maps whose publication history far outlived their accuracy from either a physical or political geographic perspective. One of the best examples from North Carolina is the 1833 MacRae-Brazier map (Figure 1).
After 1833, the engraved copper plates for the MacRae-Brazier map lay dormant in Philadelphia for almost 20 years, although ownership likely changed at least twice in that interval. Henry S. Tanner’s firm engraved the plates, and they presumably were still in his possession until Wednesday, October 5th, 1842. On that date, at 10 a.m., there was an auction of Mr. Tanner’s entire stock, including “upwards of five hundred and fifty copper plates”, maps, books, and atlases, and all copyrights for the same.[[The Pennsylvanian, September 24, 1842.]] Whoever purchased the plates for the MacRae-Brazier map apparently did nothing with them until consigning them for sale at auction on March 19, 1852. This auction offered the following description:
LARGE MAP OF NORTH CAROLINA
The plates of a Map of North Carolina, engraved on copper,
seven feet in length by two in width. Cost to engrave $1500.[[Philadelphia Inquirer, March 15, 1852.]]
This was a very timely auction for Philadelphia publisher and engraver, Wellington Williams, the presumed purchaser of the plates. Just two months after the auction, three North Carolinians, Calvin Wiley, William Cooke, and Samuel Pearce, announced their intent to publish a new map of the State. In 1854, using the MacRae-Brazier plates, Wellington Williams beat the North Carolinians to the market with A new map of the state of North Carolina : constructed from actual surveys, authentic public documents and private contributions (Figure 2.). The subtitle concludes, Published under the patronage of the legislature. Well, yes, it was… over twenty years earlier! The engraved title for the 1833 map, including acknowledgement of the Legislature’s patronage, was not changed in 1854.
Williams did delete the publisher, cartographer, and engraver imprints below the title, and he added his own imprint below the neat line. A more appropriate title would have been, A slightly revised map... Williams added several counties that had been created since publication of the 1833 map, and he also added plank roads and railroads. However, he did not remove outdated or inaccurate information from the map. On the contrary, he contributed additional inaccuracies, including the erroneous course of the NC Central Railroad curving towards Chapel Hill in Orange County. Its real course was several miles to the northeast, adjacent to Prattsburg (Figure 3).
The scarcity of surviving copies would suggest that Williams’s map was not a commercial success. Despite the absence of direct evidence, Williams apparently did sell copies of his map in North Carolina. This can be inferred from comments made by Cooke in an advertisement for their still unfinished map:
…another map purporting to be the one advertised by [Cooke et al], has been sold in some parts of the State already, to the great detriment of their interests, and the deception of the public.[[Fayetteville Observer, September 25, 1854 (reprinted from the Raleigh Weekly Post).]]
Williams re-published his “deceptive” North Carolina wall map in 1855 with a dated paste down below the title:
Three known surviving copies of Wellington Williams’s reissue of the MacRae-Brazier are currently known. There are two states of the 1854 map, one earlier than the Library of Congress example shown above has a less extensive railroad system. The only known copy with an 1855 paste-down is otherwise unchanged from the 1854 second state.
Chapter 3 will discuss a very peculiar map that originated with the MacRae-Brazier plates in the late 1850s. Stay tuned!
P.S. No need to look for Chapter 1; we started in the middle of the story. We may eventually get back to Chapter 1, but don’t hold your breath.