Elements of Geography: Containing a Concise and Comprehensive View of That Useful Science... Hardcover - 1796

Boston, MA: I. Thomas and E. T. Andrews. Good. 1796. 2nd Edition. Hardcover. Maps; This is a small format book (approx. 3.5" x 5.5"). The book has thin boards covered with marbled papers with a leather spine. The top sixth of the rear board has chipped off and the marbled paper has chunks missing, along with generalized heavy rubbing. The leather spine has darkening / burning to the bottom half, along with a two inch tear to the bottom front spine joint. The text pages are in generally clean condition, though there is generalized foxing. Both of the maps are present, but have issues. The Chart of the World on Mercators Projection has a large chip missing from the left bottom and has wrinkles where the folds are. The map of the US has a large tear to the fold. "Morse strongly influenced the educational system of the United States. While teaching at a school for young women, he saw the need for a geography textbook oriented to the forming nation. The result was skimpy and derivative, Geography Made Easy (1784). [citation needed] He followed that with American Geography (1789) , which was widely cited and copied. New editions of his school textbooks and the more weighty works often came out annually, earning him the informal title, "father of American geography." His postponed gazetteer for his work of 1784 was bested by Joseph Scott's Gazetteer of the United States in 1795. With the aid of Noah Webster and Rev. Samuel Austin, Morse published his gazetteer as Universal Geography of the United States (1797). " (from Wikipedia) .