Rare plan of the American Settlement in Shanghai.

The American trading concession in Shanghai covered the north bank of the Huangpu River, north east of the Bund, which was then part of the British concession. The British had been granted trading concessions in Shanghai following their victory over the Qing Empire during the First Opium war and the subsequent signing of the Treaty of Nanking in 1842. They were soon joined by the French and Americans, the latter setting up station just north of the British. In 1854 the three countries set up the Shanghai Municipal Council, in order to coordinate their efforts, however, in 1862 the French left the council, and the following year the Americans and British combined to create the International Settlement.

Rare. The only other example we are able to trace is in the Library of Congress, which is the same map printed using a smaller scale, but only the left half of it survived, English and Chinese text printed in red at top left, and below the title is printed “Signed at the Mixed Court, Shanghai, this Twenty-eighth day of June, in the year Eighteen hundred…”, and a smaller scale of 500 feet to an inch.