FINLEY, ANTHONY. Map of the United States. Fine pocket map of the United States engraved by James Hamilton Young. Thin banknote paper, 17x21 inches sheet size, folding into publisher's red roan case with "U. States" blocked in gilt on the upper cover, letterpress advertisement to front pastedown; strong original hand-color in full; discreet reinforcements to the verso of several fold intersections, otherwise beautifully preserved. – Philadelphia, 1824

a curious unrecorded imprint. Derived from the model of John Melish, this map of the United States extending to the western reaches of the massive Missouri Territory first appeared in Finley's 1826 "New American Atlas". The double-page map in that book commonly bears a date of 1825 or 1826. There was plenty of competition in Philadelphia during this period and to supplement income from his atlas sales Finley began issuing his maps individually in pocket format. What's interesting with the present date of 1824, it points to an unrecorded separate issue produced well before the publication of the atlas. Phillips, Wheat, nor Ristow make mention of an 1824 edition of the map.