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Joel Kovarsky - The True Geography of Our Country: Jefferson’s Cartographic Vision

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A philosopher, architect, astronomer, and polymath, Thomas Jefferson lived at a time when geography was considered the mother of all sciences. Although he published only a single printed map, Jefferson was also regarded as a geographer, owing to his interest in and use of geographic and cartographic materials during his many careersattorney, farmer, sometime surveyor, and regional and national politicianand in his twilight years at Monticello. For roughly twenty-five years he was involved in almost all elements of the urban planning of Washington, D.C., and his surveying skills were reflected in his architectural drawings, including those of the iconic grounds of the University of Virginia. He understood maps not only as valuable for planning but as essential for future land claims and development, exploration and navigation, and continental commercial enterprise.


In The True Geography of Our Country: Jeffersons Cartographic Vision, Joel Kovarsky charts the importance of geography and maps as foundational for Jeffersons lifelong pursuits. Although the world had already seen the Age of Exploration and the great sea voyages of Captain James Cook, Jefferson lived in a time when geography was of primary importance, prefiguring the rapid specializations of the mid- to late-nineteenth-century world. In this illustrated exploration of Jeffersons passion for geographyincluding his role in planning the route followed and regions explored by Lewis and Clarks Corps of Discovery, as well as other expeditions into the vast expanse of the Louisiana PurchaseKovarsky reveals how geographical knowledge was essential to the manifold interests of the Sage of Monticello.

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The True Geography of Our Country Jeffersons Cartographic Vision - image 1
THE
TRUE GEOGRAPHY
OF OUR COUNTRY
The True Geography of Our Country Jeffersons Cartographic Vision - image 2
THE
TRUE GEOGRAPHY
OF OUR COUNTRY
The True Geography of Our Country Jeffersons Cartographic Vision - image 3
JEFFERSONS
CARTOGRAPHIC
VISION
The True Geography of Our Country Jeffersons Cartographic Vision - image 4
University of Virginia Press 2014 by the Rector and Visitors of the University - photo 5
University of Virginia Press
2014 by the Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
First published 2014
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Kovarsky, Joel.
The true geography of our country : Jeffersons cartographic vision / Joel Kovarsky.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8139-3558-4 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN 978-0-8139-3559-1 (e-book)
1. Jefferson, Thomas, 17431826KnowledgeGeography. 2. United StatesGeography. 3. GeographyHistory19th century. I. Title.
E332.2.K68 2014
973.46092dc23
[B]
2013050489
For Deborah, Lee, and Ian
A great deal is yet wanting to ascertain the true geography of our country; more indeed as to its longitudes than latitudes. Towards this we have done too little for ourselves and depended too long on the ancient and inaccurate observations of other nations. You are wiping off this reproach, and will, I hope, be long continued in that work. All this will be for a future race when the superlunary geography will have become the object of my contemplations. Yet I do not wish it the less. On the same principle on which I am still planting trees, to yield their shade and ornament half a century hence.
Thomas Jefferson to Andrew Ellicott, June 1812
The True Geography of Our Country Jeffersons Cartographic Vision - image 6
CONTENTS
The True Geography of Our Country Jeffersons Cartographic Vision - image 7
The True Geography of Our Country Jeffersons Cartographic Vision - image 8
ILLUSTRATIONS
The True Geography of Our Country Jeffersons Cartographic Vision - image 9
The True Geography of Our Country Jeffersons Cartographic Vision - image 10
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The True Geography of Our Country Jeffersons Cartographic Vision - image 11
This book would never have taken shape without the continued encouragement of the retired director of the University of Virginia Press, Penelope J. Kaiserlian. Likewise, I am beholden to the ongoing copy-editing assistance of my friend Joanne Foster and Mark Mones at the University of Virginia Press. I thank my wife, Deborah Kovarsky, for her patience, especially with our study floor piled high with books and papers for several years.
, Foreshadowing Manifest Destiny, took shape during a short-term fellowship at the Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies at Monticello. The Digital Curation Services of the University of Virginia Library provided ongoing assistance with the numerous images from the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library. David Rumsey kindly gave permission to use multiple images from his renowned online map collection, and numerous other images were obtained from the map collections of the Library of Congress American Memory site. I am also grateful to numerous staff members at the University of Virginia Press for their guidance in preparation of the final manuscript.
The True Geography of Our Country Jeffersons Cartographic Vision - image 12
INTRODUCTION
The True Geography of Our Country Jeffersons Cartographic Vision - image 13
A visitor walking into the expansive entrance hall at Jeffersons Monticello is immediately struck by the range of visual displays: the great clock; the busts of Alexander Hamilton, Michel-tienne Turgot, and Voltaire; the paintings depicting John Adams, Amerigo Vespucci, and a young Native American chieftain; and numerous other artifacts native to North America. Along with these treasures, a remarkable and unique cartographic display is intended to impress and instruct, comprising wall maps of continental Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America (including the United States); a later variant of the Fry-Jefferson map of Virginia (coauthored by his father); a reduced version of Cruz-Canos map of South America; and Bishop Madisons early-nineteenth-century map of Virginia.
Literature about the enigmatic polymath Thomas Jefferson is voluminous and seemingly ever expanding. The genre is an industry unto itself, and the varied biographical tomes and papers include eulogies, deifications, vilifications, and combinations thereof. Almost every aspect of Jeffersons life has been discussed and dissected.
In these varied attempts to describe his multifaceted intellectual pursuits, numerous labels have been attached to Jefferson. He has been called agronomist, American sphinx, American synecdoche, architect, archaeologist, astronomer, author, botanist, ethnologist, linguist, paleontologist, philosopher, scientist, and more. but this oversight seriously underestimates his interest in and use of cartographic materials, which is a focus of this book.
FIGURE 1 A Map of the Country between Albemarle Sound and Lake Erie - photo 14
FIGURE 1. A Map of the Country between Albemarle Sound and Lake Erie, Comprehending the Whole of Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania, by Thomas Jefferson, published by John Stockdale, London, 1787. This was Jeffersons only published, printed (engraved) map, although several other personal sketch maps appear in Notes on the State of Virginia. (Tracy W. McGregor Library of American History, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia)
Still, there is little doubt that he studied maps throughout his long career as a lawyer and politician, and into his twilight years at Monticello.
It is not precisely known how Jefferson viewed the scope of geography, which was not a well-established academic subject during his time. Geographical knowledge was intellectually centraleven if shrouded by ignoranceto the imperial interests of the expanding European and Asian nations of the Enlightenment.
It is possible to get some idea of Jeffersons views by looking at his various libraries, which over time contained more than fifty different dictionaries, as well as more than three hundred works pertaining to geography. One of those many dictionaries, often consulted today to gauge the use of the English language during the eighteenth century, was the fourth edition of Samuel Johnsons
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