This is the first of Thomson's major cartographic works and the atlas for which is most celebrated. Thomson's New General Atlas was first published in 1817 and continued to be published until about 1821. Thomson, J., A New General Atlas, (Edinburgh) 1817. Today, Thomson maps are becoming increasingly rare as they are highly admired for their impressive size, vivid hand coloration, and superb detail. There is some suggestion that he continued to work as a bookbinder until 1841. The firm partially recovered in the subsequent year allowing Thomson to reclaim his printing plates in 1831, but filed again for bankruptcy in 1835, at which time most of his printing plates were sold to A. The Atlas of Scotland, a work of groundbreaking detail and dedication would eventually bankrupt the Thomson firm in 1830, at which time their plates were sequestered by the court. Thomson's principle works include Thomson's New General Atlas, published from 1814 to 1821, the New Classical and Historical Atlas of 1829, and his 1830 Atlas of Scotland. Thomson and his contemporaries (Pinkerton and Cary) redefined European cartography by abandoning typical 18th century decorative elements such as elaborate title cartouches and fantastic beasts in favor of detail and accuracy. Thomson is generally one of the leading publishers in the Edinburgh school of cartography which flourished from roughly 1800 to 1830.

Later the two parted ways, John Thomson segueing into maps and Abraham Thomson taking over the bookbinding portion of the business. After his apprenticeship he briefly went into business with Abraham Thomson. Thomson apprenticed under Edinburgh bookbinder Robert Alison. 1841) was a Scottish cartographer, publisher, and bookbinder active in Edinburgh during the early part of the 19th century. This map was prepared by John Thomson for inclusion in the 1817 edition of his New General Atlas. His maps are known for their stunning color, awe-inspiring size, and magnificent detail. Thomson's work, including this map, represents some of the finest cartographic art of the 19th century. Old rivalries would fester and soon nationalism, liberalism, revolution (industrial and otherwise) would once again be on the rise across Europe.

Alas, the ‘peace' was but an illusion and Europe was anything but calm. Europe under a new peaceful balance of power was centered on the five most important powers (also referred to as the five ‘Great Powers') of the United Kingdom, France, Russia, Prussia and the Austrian empire. Following the defeat of Napoleonic France, the conference in Vienna set to resize the main powers so they could balance each other off and remain at peace. The map was issued to depict the territories set by the Congress of Vienna in 1815, here depicted by color-coding. This map is a part of a Thomson’s larger 4 map set of Europe entitled ‘Europe after the Congress of Vienna’. Rivers, mountains and other topographical features are noted.

It depicts the whole or part of the modern day nations of Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg. This is an attractive 1817 map of southwestern Europe by the Edinburgh cartographer John Thomson.

Minnesota - North Dakota - South Dakota.

Massachusetts - Connecticut - Rhode Island.

Map of vienna italy