"A map is the greatist of all epic poems. Its lines and colors show the realization of great dreams."
—Gilbert H. Grosvenor, Editor of National Geographic
—Gilbert H. Grosvenor, Editor of National Geographic
 | Anne Arundel County |
All was not lost, though. Some of the references in the notes to the draftsman refer to items that "may be seen on the coast survey," implying (1) that both the draftsman and the surveyor had a copy of the "coast survey" at hand, and (2) that the "coast survey" may have been used as a base for some of the work or even a "control" for it (see above), at least on paper. In fact, some of the maps reference Coast surveys in their title blocks. Oswald Tilghman, in his History of Talbot County Maryland 1661-1861, complained, "Mr. Simon Martenet upon his map of the county published in 1866 follows implicitly the Coast Survey Charts, even to the copying of the inaccuracies of the names." [Tilghman, Oswald. History of Talbot County Maryland 1661-1861 Volume II. Baltimore: Williams and Wilkens Company, 1915, p.328] Indeed, a comparison of the 1866 map with the published 1862 Coast map of the Chesapeake Bay Shore (based on triangulation as described above) reveals a great resemblance between the two, at least in the linework. Clearly the focus of the two maps differs, as did the maps' audience. Where the Coast map concentrated on navigation and the shoreline itself, and, for context, included some inland features, the Martenet map focused on the inland features and included the shoreline for context. Nevertheless, it seems likely that the Coast survey, when available, was used as "control" for the Martenet work.
 | (Click to enlarge) |
In 1864 Mr. Martenet secured the cooperation of the state in the form of a legislative resolution [No. 2, Assented to March 9, 1864], which granted him "the free use of the State Library . . . and such other Archives and State Records as may contain applicable data . . . which may assist him in perfecting his proposed Map of Maryland; and the various State officers are requested to furnish him every facility for the accomplishment of that object." Further, the "United States Coast Survey and other Government authorities" were requested to furnish Martenet "the requisite facilities for acquiring such data in possession of the Government as may be useful or desireable, for the fulfillment of the above purpose." He was also to be furnished a certified copy of the resolution (in case the cooperation was not automatically forthcoming, we suppose!).
The following year, the state got more interested. A bill was passed [Chapter 94, Acts of 1865] appropriating $3,000 to Martenet upon successful completion of his map as long as it compared favorably "with the description of his map, as contained in the published appeal to the Legislature, (a copy of which is hereby directed to be furnished by the Secretary of the Senate to said Superintendant)." ($3,000 is roughly equivilant to $42,000 in 2008 dollars.) We have not yet located that "published appeal" to the legislature, but it is likely to have survived among the state archives. The bill described the Map "in two editions as proposed in his published description, to be plotted on muslin, six feet by five, and the other in portable Atlas form and plotted on the same scale."
There followed a complex set of directives for the State Superintendant of Public Instruction, the State Librarian, the Comptroller of the Treasury, and a host of other public officials, each of whom was to play a role in disseminating copies of the map throughout the state. The Librarian, for instance, was "to receive of said Martenet, one hundred and fifty copies of his large Map of Maryland, on rollers and one hundred and fifty copies of said Map in Atlas form, (ten copies of each whereof shall not be colored,) to hold the same subject to the provisions hereinafter contained. . ."
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