Traveler's Directory for Illinois; Containing Accurate Sketches of the State .

Peck, J. M.

Published by New York, New York, 1839

About this Item

Original cloth, very good condition. 220 pp., large folding map "Map of the State of Illinois from United States Surveys . by J. M. Peck & John Messinger". The map has light wear at the right edge where it extends beyond the text block when folded, and an early crude repair along a fold at the left edge. The map has three inset maps, of the Lead Region, the Vicinity of Alton and St. Louis, and the Vicinity of Chicago. The Chicago inset is particularly important as it is among the earliest indications of the recognition of the importance of Chicago, which had been established as a city only five years earlier. The title page shows an 1839 date, though the cover is stamped 1840 and there are 1840 dates on page 219 and on the map. A scarce issue of Peck's guide to Illinois (Buck 341: 'Embodies much of the same material as his Gazeteer of Illinois') which was first issued in 1831. This map is an early state of the Peck and Messenger Sectional Map of Illinois, the first detailed sectional map of the state, which had previously only been published in Cincinnati in 1835. This issue of the guide is the only one with this title. OCLC 16101891 locates 8 copies, with one other copy shown under a different listing. The most recent copy for which a dealer or auction offering was found was in 1959. Graff 3237, Howes P172, Sabin 59486.

Seller Inventory # m01651

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Traveler's Directory for Illinois; Containing Accurate Sketches of the State .
• Publisher: New York, New York
• Publication Date: 1839
• Binding: Hardcover
• Seller catalogs:
  • Maps