The United States of Mexico

David H. Burr
New York, 1832

David H. Burr, The United States of Mexico, New York: D.S. Stone, 1832, Map #93952, Map Collection, Archives and Records Program, Texas General Land Office, Austin, TX.

David H. Burr, a preeminent nineteenth-century American cartographer, began his career as a surveyor in southern New York state under Surveyor General Simeon De Witt. In 1829, he revised De Witt’s influential 1804 map of the state, which led to his Atlas of the State of New York (1829). Three years later, Burr helped advance the American commercial atlas industry by producing the first maps in his New Universal Atlas. This volume consisted of sixty-three maps split between world views and the Americas, with the latter retaining a strong focus on the United States and its southern neighbors.[1]

A four-color scheme differentiates the anachronistic Mexican territorial divisions.

After copyrighting these initial maps in 1832, Burr accepted a nomination to a newly created position — Topographer to the U.S. Postal Service — in recognition for his work in New York. In his absence, Burr’s business partners, Thomas Illman and Edward Pilbrow, finished the remaining maps under Burr’s editorial guidance (likely using geographical material acquired from his new position). They published the first edition of the New Universal Atlas in 1835.[2]

An inset depicts “Guatemala or the United Provinces of Central America.”

This map of the United States of Mexico captures a large portion of North America, from Panama (then part of Colombia) in the south to “New California” in the north and Arkansas and Louisiana in the northeast. The lower-left corner features an inset of “Guatemala or the United Provinces of Central America.” It is one of eight maps in the atlas that Burr personally authored before his departure. Although its title refers to the official name of the Mexican republic (Estados Unidos Mexicanos), the map’s political geography remains firmly rooted in the Spanish colonial period. Instead of the states of Mexico’s federated republic (created in 1824), Burr presents the territorial divisions of the intendancy system created by Spain’s Bourbon dynasty in the 1780s. The reason for such an anachronism remains unclear, especially considering that White, Gallaher, and White published an updated, large-format Mapa de los Estados Unidos de Mejico… in 1828.[3] One answer may lie in Burr’s evident reliance on Humboldt’s 1809 Carte Generale du Royaume de la Nouvelle Espagne, especially in his rendering of the northeastern frontier.[4]

The map includes major Texas settlements and waterways. The Nueces River forms the state’s southern boundary.

Burr updated the Texas portion of his map by adding the new towns San Felipe de Austin and Brazoria in addition to established settlements at San Antonio, Nacadoches [sic], and Matagordia [sic]. He charts Texas’ major rivers including the Colorado, Brassos [sic], and Trinity, while defining the territory’s borders as the Red River (north), Sabine River (east), and Nueces River (south). Coahuila and New Santander share the Trans-Nueces region, through which the Rio del Norte (Rio Grande) flows.

D.S. Stone published this map in the New Universal Atlas in 1835 and 1836 before Jeremiah Greenleaf purchased the plates, expanded the volume to 65 maps, and produced subsequent editions in 1840, 1842, and 1848.[5]

Adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Peter Schloss in memory of their daughter Merav K. Schloss (1978–2005).

1. Donald A. Heald Rare Books, Prints & Maps, “Burr, David H. (1803–1875), A New Universal Atlas,” https://www.donaldheald.com/pages/books/18511/david-h-burr/a-new-universal-atlas-comprising-separate-maps-of-all-the-principal-empires-kingdoms-states (accessed 19 August 2021).
2. Ibid.; see also: W. W. Ristow, American Maps and Map-Makers: Commercial Cartography in the Nineteenth Century (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1985), 103–108.
3. White, Gallaher, and White, Mapa de los Estados Unidos de Méjico, Según lo organizado y definido por las varias actas del Congreso de dicha república, y construido por las mejoras autoridades, New York: White, Gallaher, and White, 1828, Map #93846, Holcomb Digital Collection, Archives and Records, Texas General Land Office, Austin, TX.
4. Alexander von Humboldt, Carte Generale du Royaume de la Nouvelle Espagne, Paris: Barriere, 1809, Map #96510, Holcomb Digital Map Collection, Archives and Records Program, Texas General Land Office, Austin, TX.
5. Geographicus Rare Antique Maps, “1833 Burr Map of the United States,” https://www.geographicus.com/P/AntiqueMap/UnitedStates-burr-1835 (accessed 19 August 2021).