THE ISTHMUS OF PANAMA BETWEEN PORTO VELO, CHAGRES, & PANAMA
New York: J. Oakes, No. 140 Maiden Lane, N. York, 1849. Map. Uncolored map of the narrowest portion of the Isthmus of Panama, highlighting "Aspinwall & Co. proposed line of Rail Road" connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and two additional proposed rail lines. Also indicates proposed breakwater and canal at Bay of Limon. Inset map of entire Isthmus of Panama.
Map: 8.25 in. x 7.6 in. Paper: 12 in. x 8.3 in. Light age-toning to paper. A couple darker tan spots along left margin with faded spotting and some age-toning on the map itself; several small dark spots along bottom edge on margin. 1.25 inch closed tear to bottom margin. Very light creasing along right margin. Blank on verso. Good Plus. Item #100392
Cartographer John Augustus Lloyd (1800-1854) was an English engineer and surveyor. He was involved in an early survey of the Isthmus of Panama, publishing his first map of the isthmus in 1829 at the request of Simon Bolivar that showed two unnamed proposed rail lines. This 1849 edition, published 20 years later, is most similar to Lloyd's 1832 version of his map entitled "The Isthmus of Darien between Porto Velo, Chagres, & Panama", but the 1849 version reveals a new publisher's name and includes the route of the "Aspinwall & Co. proposed line of Rail Road".
In 1848 a charter was granted to the Pacific Mail Steamship Company to deliver mail between the U.S. and Panama. The incorporators were William H. Aspinwall, his uncle, Gardiner Green Howland, Henry Chauncey, and Edwin Bartlett. Three wooden paddle-wheel steamships were built; the California, the Oregon, and the Panama. They would deliver mail between New York, Panama and San Francisco. However, the discovery of gold in California in January 1848 took Aspinwall’s attention away from mail delivery. Gold seekers chose the Panama route instead of the difficult, plodding journey across the plains, desert and mountains of the uncivilized, Indian-infested overland route. The Panama Railroad was incorporated in New York on April 7, 1849 and construction in the dense, tropical region began immediately. On Sunday, January 28, 1855 a first train ran from the Atlantic Ocean across the Isthmus of Panama to the Pacific Ocean for the first time. While the construction cost over $6.5 million, The Panama Railroad proved a very lucrative investment with the dramatic increase in the number of people and the amount of cargo that needed to travel across the isthmus. Between 1855 and 1867, the railway claimed that more than $700 million in gold was carried aboardthout the loss of a single dollar. The Panama Canal itself was not completed until 1914.
Price: $375.00