CHEVALIER, Michel. Histoire et description des voies de communication aux États-Unis et des travaux d'art qui en dépendent. [Atlas seul]. Paris, Charles Gosselin 1840-41. 550 x 372 mm. Noir et blanc. Folio atlas only, missing the 2 text volumes. Wrappers slightly browned and worn. Atlas featuring 19 double-page engraved maps and plans that vividly illustrate railroads and engineering designs. CHEVALIER, Michel (1806-1879). When Chevalier was sent to America by the French government in 1833, he was a prominent economist seeking to analyze the newly built communication routes. His work lasted nearly two years, during which time he recorded the early observations on American transportation which are here published. His Histoire contains descriptions of various railroads, canals, and major bridges along the eastern seaboard and in the St. Lawrence and Great Lakes regions of Canada. The maps and plans show canals and railroads in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland, and technical plans detailing the structures of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad cars, Schuylkill Canal, Cornwall Canal, Patapsco Viaduct, the Aquaduct Bridge on the Potomac River at Georgetown, the Morris Canal, and others. Monaghan notes that "Among his contemporaries, [Chevalier] enjoyed a reputation equal to that of … de Tocqueville and Gustave de Beaumont. He remains one of the most important French commentators on the United States."