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Maps > North America (578 items)
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 MORTIER, Pierre (1661-1711)
Carte General de la Caroline. Dresse sur les Memoires le plus Nouveaux par le Sieua [sic.] S**
Amsterdam: P. Mortier, [1700]. Copper-engraved map, with full original colour. Sheet size: 23 3/4 x 19 1/2 inches.
A fine copy of the first map of the Carolinas to be printed outside of England, including an inset of Charleston with the names and positions of early plantations along the Ashley and Cooper Rivers, present here in the first state
This is the first map of the Carolinas to be printed outside of England, and was included as part of Pierre Mortier's Suite de Neptune François, published in Amsterdam in 1700, and often incorrectly attributed to Nicolas Sanson. It is directly derived from the extremely rare A New Map of Carolina of 1685 by John Thornton, Robert Morden and Philip Lea. All topographical details are identical to those of its antecedent, however most of the place names have been Gallicized. Also, "The table of settlers" has been omitted in favour of the title caption. Amusingly a "Charle Ville ou Charles Towne" appears written in large letters near Cape Fear, while the actual Charles Towne is labeled in small letters further down the coast. The present map includes an inset detail of Charleston and the Cooper and Ashley Rivers with the names and positions of various early plantations marked along their banks.
'Carolina was established in 1663 when Charles II granted the province to eight favorites, known as the Lord Proprietors, who had helped him regain the throne of England. The original grant included the territory between the 31st degree to 36 1/2 degrees north latitude, from Jekyll Island, Georgia, to Curritiuck Inlet, North Carolina. Two years later, the tract was enlarged to include the land between the 29th and the 31st degrees north latitude, thus adding a large portion of Florida. The grant extended west to the Pacific Ocean' (Degrees of Latitude, p.93).
Burden, The Mapping of North America II, 767; Cumming, The Southeast in Early Maps, 120; Koeman, Atlantes Neerlandici IV, M.Mor 7-33
#19785 $6,500.00  
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 MORTIER, Pierre (1661-1711)
Carte General de la Caroline. Dresse sur les Memoires le plus Nouveaux par le Sieua [sic.] S***.
Amsterdam: P. Mortier, [1700]. Copper-engraved map, with full original colour. Sheet size: 25 x 20 inches.
A fine copy of the first map of the Carolinas to be printed outside of England, including an inset of Charleston with the names and positions of early plantations along the Ashley and Cooper Rivers, present here in the first state
This is the first map of the Carolinas to be printed outside of England, and was included as part of Pierre Mortier's Suite de Neptune François, published in Amsterdam in 1700, and often incorrectly attributed to Nicolas Sanson. It is directly derived from the extremely rare A New Map of Carolina of 1685 by John Thornton, Robert Morden and Philip Lea. All topographical details are identical to those of its antecedent, however most of the place names have been Gallicized. Also, The table of settlers has been omitted in favour of the title caption. Amusingly a "Charle Ville ou Charles Towne" appears written in large letters near Cape Fear, while the actual Charles Towne is labeled in small letters further down the coast. The present map includes an inset detail of Charleston and the Cooper and Ashley Rivers with the names and positions of various early plantations marked along their banks.
"Carolina was established in 1663 when Charles II granted the province to eight favorites, known as the Lord Proprietors, who had helped him regain the throne of England. The original grant included the territory between the 31st degree to 36 1/2 degrees north latitude, from Jekyll Island, Georgia, to Curritiuck Inlet, North Carolina. Two years later, the tract was enlarged to include the land between the 29th and the 31st degrees north latitude, thus adding a large portion of Florida. The grant extended west to the Pacific Ocean" (Degrees of Latitude, p.93).
Burden, The Mapping of North America II, 767; Cumming, The Southeast in Early Maps, 120; Koeman, Atlantes Neerlandici IV, M.Mor 7-33.
#20317$6,500.00
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 MORTIER, Pierre (1661-1711)
Carte Nouvelle de l'Amerique Angloise Contenant la Virginie, Mary-Land, Caroline, Pensylvania, Nouvelle Iorck, N: Iarsey, N: France, et les Terres Nouvellement Decouerte. Dresse sure les Relations les Plus Nouvelles par le Sieur S...
Amsterdam: Pierre Mortier, [circa 1700]. Copper engraved map, engraved by Romein de Hooghe, on two sheets joined, period hand-colouring in outline. Inset plan of Boston Harbor. Sheet size: 25 1/4 x 37 inches.
Mortier's map of English America from his famed Neptune François.
Although the title suggests this map of English North America to be based on Sanson, it is in fact "drawn directly from Robert Morden's significant New Map of the English Empire in America, c. 1698. The most notable feature here is the mountain range extending from the Florida peninsula northwards into Michigan ... Despite many of the toponyms being translated into French, the map's English origins are clearly seen, including Copper Mine near present day Chicago, and Mines of Iron besides the Ohio River, both originating in the Thevenot, 1681. The unusual depiction of Green Bay, the broader northern portion of the Delaware peninsula, the boundaries of Pennsylvania extending far to the north, the altered Cape Cod and the inset plan of Boston harbour are all features found on the Morden map. Indeed, this is the first printing of a plan of an English colonial city in a non-English map" (Burden).
The general title and imprint appears in the upper left corner of this two sheet map; however, a second title (Partie Orientale de l'Amerique Angloise) and imprint appears in the upper right corner, allowing Mortier to use the same map joined, as here, in his Neptune François, or as separate sheets in his Atlas Nouveau.
Burden, The Mapping of North America II: 765; McCorkle, New England in Early Printed Maps 695.7; Phillips, A List of Maps of America, p. 517; Cumming, Southeast in Early Maps 129.
#25670$4,000.00
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 MORTIER, Pierre (1661-1711)
Carte Particulière de la Caroline dressée sur les Memories le plus nouveaux par le Sieur S***
Amsterdam: P. Mortier, [1700]. Copper-engraved map, with original outline colour, in very good condition, right margin skilfully extended. Sheet size: 19 3/4 x 24 7/8 inches.
The first map of South Carolina to be printed outside of England, with the names and positions of early plantations, present here in the first state
This is the first map of South Carolina to be printed outside of England, and was included as part of Pierre Mortier's Suite de Neptune François, published in Amsterdam in 1700, and often incorrectly attributed to Nicolas Sanson. The map embraces most of South Carolina from the Santee River in the north, to the South Edisto river in the south. It is directly derived from the extremely rare A New Map [of] South Carolina of 1695 by John Thornton and Robert Morden. All topographical details are identical to those of its antecedent, however most of the place names have been Gallicized. Importantly, however, Mortier labelled over 250 plantations with their proprietor's names, far more than any previous map. The street grid of Charleston is outlined, and the network of roads connecting the various settlements is delineated.
"Carolina was established in 1663 when Charles II granted the province to eight favorites, known as the Lord Proprietors, who had helped him regain the throne of England. The original grant included the territory between the 31st degree to 36 1/2 degrees north latitude, from Jekyll Island, Georgia, to Curritiuck Inlet, North Carolina. Two years later, the tract was enlarged to include the land between the 29th and the 31st degree north latitude, thus adding a large portion of Florida. The grant extended west to the Pacific Ocean" (Degrees of Latitude, p.93). Carolina was divided in to two separate colonies in 1712, and South Carolina received its royal charter in 1729.
Burden, The Mapping of North America II, 768; Cumming, The Southeast in Early Maps, 121; Koeman, Atlantes Neerlandici IV, M.Mor 7-34
#20321$9,500.00
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 MOUZON, Henry (d.1777)
An Accurate Map of North and South Carolina, with their Indian Frontiers, Shewing in a distinct manner all the Mountains, Rivers, Swamps, Marshes, Bays, Creeks, Harbours, Sandbanks and Soundings on the Coasts, with the Roads and Indian Paths as well as the Boundary or Provincial Lines, the Several Townships and other divisions of the land in both the Provinces; the whole from Actual Surveys by Henry Mouzon and others.
London: R. Sayer & J. Bennet, May 30th, 1775 [but 1776]. Copper-engraved map, engraved by Samuel Turner Sparrow, on four sheets of two joined pairs, each pair measuring 21 1/2 x 55 7/8 inches, and if joined, would measure 43 x 55 7/8 inches, with original outline colour, in very good condition.
A rare monumental work, one of the finest and most important maps of the Carolinas, which "appeared on the eve of the American Revolution, and its up-to-date geography made it the most widely consulted map of the area used in the war effort" (Degrees of Latitude, p.209).
Arguably, the most handsome map of the Carolinas ever made, very finely engraved with inset maps of Charleston Harbor and Port Royal Harbor in the lower left, the map is so detailed and geographically advanced that it remained the seminal map of the Carolinas for the following two generations. Its appearance in the days leading up to the American Revolution ensured that it was the primary map used by field commanders on both sides as the dramatic events of the conflict unfolded in the Carolinas. This is demonstrated by the fact that the very copies used by three of the most important commanders are today preserved in libraries. George Washington's copy, folded and mounted on cloth, resides in the collection of The American Geographical Society. The French commander, the Comte de Rochambeau's copy in the Library of Congress; and British commander, Sir Henry Clinton's copy is housed in the William L. Clements Library at the University of Michigan.
Henry Mouzon produced a map that was one of the finest expressions of American cartography in the years leading up to the Revolution; however, he remains one of the most enigmatic of all the mapmakers of this period. All that is known of him is that this masterly work was devised by Henry Mouzon of Craven County, who was a professional surveyor, and was described as having left "Sundry maps and two copper plates" in the inventory of his estate after his death in April, 1777. Mouzon first announced his intention to publish a map depicting just South Carolina in an advertisement in The South Carolina and American General Advertiser in the Spring of 1774. However, as Mouzon proceeded he elected to undertake the much greater endeavour of covering both Carolinas. The Carolinas were officially divided into two separate colonies, North and South, in 1730.
Mouzon's great work was first published by the leading London firm of Sayer & Bennett in 1775. Upon publication, it became clear that Mouzon had surpassed all of his predecessors in terms of scope and accuracy of the region depicted. He largely derived his portrayal of South Carolina from the two excellent recent maps by the military engineer James Cook, A Map of South Carolina (1771) and A Map of the Province of South Carolina (1773). He was also well apprised of William De Brahm's monumental Map of South Carolina and a Part of Georgia (1757). Mouzon importantly improved upon these sources by providing greater definition to the rivers and more detail regarding the native settlements located to the west of the Cherokee Line. With regards to his depiction of North Carolina, Mouzon used John Abraham Collet's magnificent A Compleat Map of North-Carolina (1770) as a basis, but superseded it by adding the delineation of more counties and a far more accuarte delineation of the Catawba River and its tributaries. It would also seem that Mouzon consulted an alternate source for the depth soundings noted off of the coastline, as the hydrographic information is decidedly different from that used by Collet.
This map exists in three states, of which the present copy represents the second state and which is distinguished from the former by the addition of "Fort Sullivan" to the inset of Charleston Harbour in the map's lower right. It was included in the 1776 edition of Thomas Jefferys' American Atlas, one of the most important works in the history of American cartography.
Cumming, North Carolina in Maps, pp.21-22; Cumming, Southeast in Early Maps, 450; Guthorn, British Maps of the American Revolution, 83/1 & 150/13; Degrees of Latitude, 44; Schwartz & Ehrenberg, Mapping of America, p.187; Sellers & Van Ee, Maps & Charts of North America & West Indies, p.298; Stevens & Tree, 'Comparative Cartography,' 11 (citing only the first and third states), in Tooley, The Mapping of America.
#19721$22,500.00
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 MÜNSTER, Sebastian (1488-1552)
Novae Insulae XVII Nova Tabula
[Basel: Heinrich Petri, 1542]. Woodcut map (in excellent condition, faint soiling at centerfold). Sheet size: 11 3/4 x 15 1/8 inches.
A very rare first-state example of Münster's highly-important map of the New World, from the second edition of his celebrated Geographia Universalis, and an iconic masterpiece of Renaissance cartography.
This map, Novae Insule XVII, Nova Tabula, which is of great epistemological importance, depicts the immense lands newly discovered in the Western Hemisphere during the preceding two generations. Sebastian Münster's use of the term "Americam" on the map, in addition to the hemisphere's designation as the "Novus Orbis" (New World), helped to solidify America as the name for the New World. This is also the earliest printed map to use the name "Mare Pacificum" for the Pacific Ocean, first discovered by Balboa in 1513. South America is much more clearly defined and accurately drawn than North America, as it was the object of greater European exploration. The Portuguese flag is shown flying over the South Atlantic and the Spanish banner flies over her possessions in the Caribbean, alluding to the papal Edict of Tordesillas (1494), which divided the world between the two Iberian powers. The Straits of Magellan are named and Magellan's ship, Victoria, is shown in the Pacific Ocean. A woodcut of a pyre with a leg hanging from a tree limb identifies the region where "Canibali" live in the eastern bulge of South America, now known as Brazil, in light of the vivid tales of Amerigo Vespucci. The area now encompassed by Argentina is called "Regio Gigantum" in honor of the gargantuan Patagonians that Magellan's men reported meeting there. Several islands are shown in the Caribbean, including Cuba, Hispaniola, and Jamaica, while the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico is also shown as an island. The only place named in what is now the United States is "Terra Florida," having been discovered by Juan Ponce de Leon in 1513. The French territories in Canada, "Francisca," discovered by Jacques Cartier in 1534, is shown lying far to the east of the rest of North America. Münster showed North America narrowing into a slender isthmus in the area of modern North Carolina. This was due to Giovanni di Verrazzano's mis-identification of the Outer Banks of North Carolina as "Oriental Sea" that led to Cathay and the Spice Islands, and this led to greater interest in the exploration of the Atlantic Coast of North America. "Zipangri" (Japan) is located in the middle of the Pacific amidst 7,446 islands following the tales of Marco Polo.
Münster was a brilliant polymath and one of the most important intellectuals of the Renaissance era. Educated at Tübingen, his surviving college notebooks, Kollegienbuch, reveal a mind of insatiable curiosity, especially with regards to cosmography. Münster later became a professor of Hebrew at Heidelberg, and then from 1529 at the University of Basel. In the 1530s, he turned his attentions to translating Ptolemy's Geography, adding new material that related to the lands newly discovered in the Americas and Asia. The result was the publication of his highly regarded Geographia Universalis, first printed in 1540, of which the present map of the New World was by far its most celebrated component. The present map is from the second edition, but still represents the first-state of the map, as the same unaltered woodblock from the initial printing was employed in the production of the second edition. Münster was also a trend-setter in his ideas regarding design and layout of maps, and he was one of the first to create space on his woodblocks for the insertion of place names in metal type. Münster later published his Cosmographia (1544, revised 1550), a monumental encyclopedic book of contemporary knowledge and legend that became one of the most widely read books in Europe.
"Munster's map of the New World was probably the single most widely distributed map of America of the age. His rendering of a single land mass, the confirmation of the name America ... combine to make it an important step in the cartographic history of the region" (Martin & Martin).
Burden, Mapping of North America I, 12 (Latin text, state 1): Kershaw, Early Printed Maps of Canada I:1b; Suárez, Shedding the Veil, pp.81-85. pl.16. Cf. Schwartz & Ehrenberg, Mapping of America, p.45, pl.18; Cf. Skelton, Decorative Printed Maps, p.40; Suárez, Early Mapping of the Pacific, p.49; Tooley, Mapping & Mapmakers, p.112, pl.80; Martin & Martin, Maps of Texas and the Southwest, p.67, plate 2.
#19856$15,000.00
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 [NATIONAL PUBLISHING COMPANY]
National Publishing Company's New Railroad, Post Office, Township, and County Map of New York with Distances Between Stations. Compiled From the Latest Government and State Surveys and Original Sources
Boston: National Publishing Company, [ca. 1905]. Color printed, 39¼ x 44¼ inches, cloth-backed, and folding into gilt-stamped black cloth covers. Numerous tables and charts, including: "List of all Steam Railroads in New York State," "Steamship Lines from New York, Jersey City and Hoboken," "County and County Seats, from Census of 1900." A fine copy.
This is a very detailed, handsome and large-scale map of New York State, on a scale of one half mile to the inch. With two large insets: "Map of New York City" and "Southeastern Part of New York." Not in Rumsey.
#3249$300.00
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 [NEW YORK CITY] - J. Rapkin
New York
London and New York: John Tallis & Co., [1852]. Engraved map by Rapkin within an ornamental border, with six engraved inset views by H. Winkles.
A decorative mid-19th century map of Manhattan.
This decorative map appeared in Tallis' Illustrated Atlas and Modern History of the World. The map depicts Manhattan south of 42nd Street, with most development south of Madison Square. The routes of the Hudson River Railroad and the Harlem Railroad are both identified. The views by Winkles comprise: City Hall, Custom House, The Narrows from Fort Hamilton, New York from Williamsburgh, A New York Steamer and Brooklyn.
Not in Stokes or Haskell.
#26251$1,000.00
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 NICHOLSON, Walter L. (topographer of the U.S. Post Office Department)
[Collection of Post Route Maps.
Washington, D.C.]: 1879. 8 engraved folding maps (various sizes), hand-coloured in outline, dissected and backed onto 11 pieces of linen, with original marbled paper covers, with a mounted paper label with the letterpress title. All contained within a single later cloth box, with morocco label to spine, .
[with:]
W.L NICHOLSON. An autograph letter signed to C.P. Chambers, on 'Post Office Department, Topographer's Office, Washington, D.C.' headed paper, dated July 12 1879. 2 pp. (10 x 8 inches), to Chambers, the General Auditor of the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad, a covering letter which accompanied the maps when Nicholson sent them to Chambers, recalling that 'Some time ago … I undertook to prepare for you a set of certain of our Post Route Maps-to be put up in what we call "folio form" for convenient desk and table reference. The great pressure of work upon this Office during the recent Session of Congress has delayed this matter-but now I am happy to dispatch the maps … [ a list of 7 maps follows, with the dates of when they were updated] … In addition to these I propose to send you the map of the States of Illinois, Iowa & Missouri, but we have run short of these during the past few weeks, awaiting a new edition, which when received …', pasted to verso of one of the sections of the 'Upper Part' of the State of New York. Pasted to the section of the map opposite the letter is a printed and manuscript list, also dated 12 July 1879, the same eight maps. Provenance: Central & Hudson River Railroad (presentation letter, see above)
Rare presentation set of the official Post Route maps, as used by Cornelius Vanderbilt's Central & Hudson River Railroad, with an associated manuscript letter from the topographer of the Post Office Department
Taken together, the maps provide complete coverage for roughly the northeast quadrant of the lower 48 states, stretching from Maine to the Dakotas, Nebraska and Kansas, and as far south as parts of Virginia and West Virginia. They were compiled by Nicholson who was responsible for setting up the topographical department of the Post Office during the Civil War, and went on to serve as the official Topographer to the Post Office for 22 years As indicated by the title, the focus of the maps is on postal routes and, naturally, towns as well as political boundaries. Lakes, rivers and other waterways provide the only topographical detail. The postal routes are colour-coded to indicate frequency with which they are used (e.g., black for six times per week, blue for three times per week), with rail routes differentiated by cross-hatching. The distance for each route segment is also indicated. Each map includes a legend and an inset table of distances between post offices. Most also provide a table of statistics (population, number of post offices, rail mileage, etc.) relevant to the states depicted. The charming official Post Office Department logo and motto ('With Celerity Certainty and Security') is also present on each map.
The maps were originally published between 1866-1876, but it was essential to keep updating them (monthly until 1887, bi-monthly thereafter), and to this end each map also includes a printed note 'The Service on this diagram brought up to date of', followed by a space in which a manuscript date has been added. Some of the maps also include manuscript route changes.
The relationship between the Post Office and the railroads began very early. The first known contract was in 1832, just two years after the maiden voyage of the nation's first steam locomotive, for transport of mail between Philadelphia and Lancaster, PA. On July 7, 1838, an act of Congress declared all rail routes to be postal routes, and the railways rapidly became the backbone of the postal system. While these maps were distributed throughout the Post Office Department, it is not clear how often these early issues of the maps were given or sold to non-governmental users. By the early 1900s this was certainly common practice: between 1899 and 1905, 16% of all maps produced were sold to private interests. As General Auditor of the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad, owned by Cornelius Vanderbilt, J.P. Chambers presumably had influence like few other men in the country. To judge from the language of the accompanying letter, it is possible that this set was provided by Nicholson as a special favor.
List of maps:
1. Post Route Map of the State of Maine and of the Adjacent Parts of New Hampshire and the Dominion of Canada. '1869' but "brought up to date of July 1, 1879." 4 sections folded, 39 ¼ x 31 3/8 inches overall. Includes manuscript updates.
Includes large inset 'Map of the State of Maine Showing Connections with the Surrounding States and Provinces'. Phillips p. 386 (1881 issue).
2. Post Route Map of the States of New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and Parts of New York and Maine. '1866' but "brought up to date of May 1, 1879." 8 sections folded, 60 x 39 overall. Includes manuscript updates. Phillips p. 479 (1881 issue).
3. Post Route Map of the State of New York and Parts of Vermont Massachusetts Connecticut New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Also the Adjacent Portions of the Dominion of Canada. '1866' but "brought up to date of May 1, 1879." 16 sections, 56 ½ x 63 3/8 inches overall, mounted on two separate sheets of linen folded (each with 8 sections).
'Lower part' with large inset of Long Island. 'Upper part' with large inset of northern New York and southern Quebec and Ontario, and the 2pp. autograph letter from Nicholson, and a printed list of maps pasted on to verso. Cf. Phillips p. 517 (1881 issue).
4. Post Route Map of the States of Pennsylvania New Jersey Delaware and Maryland and of the District of Columbia with Adjacent Parts of New York Ohio Virginia and West Virginia. '1866' but "brought up to date of May 15, 1879." 16 sections, 56 ½ x 63 1/48 inches overall, mounted on two separate sheets of linen folded (each with 8 sections). Cf. Phillips p. 687 (1881 issue).
5. Post Route Map of the States of Ohio and Indiana with Adjacent Parts of Pennsylvania Michigan Illinois Kentucky and West Virginia. '1870' but "brought up to date of March 1, 1879." 12 sections folded, 41 7/8 x 58 1/4 inches overall. Cf. Phillips p. 633 (1881 issue).
6. Post Route Map of the States of Michigan and Wisconsin with Adjacent Parts of Ohio Indiana Illinois Iowa and Minnesota. '1871' but "brought up to date of March 1, 1879." 12 sections folded, 42 1/8 x 58 1/2 inches overall. Cf. Phillips p. 428 (1881 issue).
7. Post Route Map of the States of Illinois Iowa and Missouri with Adjacent Parts of Indiana Wisconsin Minnesota Kansas and Arkansas. '1872' but "brought up to date of July 1, 1879." 16 sections, 64 x 56 3/16 inches overall, mounted on two separate sheets of linen folded (each with 8 sections). Cf. Phillips p. 331 (1881 issue).
8. Post Route Map of the State of Minnesota with Adjacent Parts of Iowa, Nebraska, Dakota, Wisconsin and of the British Possessions. '1876' but "brought up to date of June 1, 1879." 16 sections folded, 58 ¼ x 42 1/2 inches overall. Cf. Phillips p. 434 (1881 issue).
Cf. Virginia W. Mason. The U.S. Post Office Department, Division of Topography: the Conception, Production, and Obsolescence of Postal Mapping in the United States. (unpublished thesis). Madison, WI: Department of Geography, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2002.
#16085$15,000.00
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 NICHOLSON, Walter L. (topographer of the U.S. Post Office Department)
Post Route Map of the State of Maine and of the Adjacent Parts of New Hampshire and the Dominion of Canada.
Washington: 1869 [updated 1 February 1873]. Engraved map, period hand-colouring in outline, sectioned and linen-backed at a contemporary date. Sheet size: 39 ¼ x 31 3/8 inches. Large inset Map of the State of Maine Showing Connections with the Surrounding States and Provinces. Housed in a contemporary brown cloth slipcase, title stamped in gilt on the covers. Provenance: John Henry Devereux, 1832-1886, President of the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, and Indianapolis Railway (name stamped in gilt on the slipcase).
Rare official Post Route map of Maine, owned by the Civil War General in charge of all Union railroad lines and the President of a major railroad company following the war.
Nicholson, who was responsible for setting up the topographical department of the Post Office during the Civil War, went on to serve as the official Topographer to the Post Office for 22 years. His maps focus on the postal routes and, naturally, towns, as well as political boundaries and railroad routes. Lakes, rivers and other waterways provide the only topographical detail. The postal routes are colour-coded to indicate frequency with which they are used (e.g., black for six times per week, blue for three times per week), with rail routes differentiated by cross-hatching. The distance for each route segment is also indicated. The map includes a legend and an inset table of distances between post offices. The official Post Office Department logo and motto ('With Celerity Certainty and Security') is also present.
Nicholson's maps were originally published between 1866-1876, but it was essential to keep updating them, and to this end the map also includes a printed note "The Service on this diagram brought up to date of," followed by a space in which a manuscript date has been added.
The relationship between the Post Office and the railroads began very early. The first known contract was in 1832, just two years after the maiden voyage of the nation's first steam locomotive, for transport of mail between Philadelphia and Lancaster, PA. On July 7, 1838, an act of Congress declared all rail routes to be postal routes, and the railways rapidly became the backbone of the postal system. While these maps were distributed throughout the Post Office Department, it is not clear how often these early issues of the maps were given or sold to non-governmental users, like the present.
Devereux, the original owner of this map, was the President of the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Indianapolis Railway at the time of publication. He had served in the Civil War as the officer in charge of all the Union rail lines, eventually achieving the rank of General.
Phillips, p. 386 (1881 issue); Cf. Virginia W. Mason. The U.S. Post Office Department, Division of Topography: the Conception, Production, and Obsolescence of Postal Mapping in the United States. (unpublished thesis). Madison, WI: Department of Geography, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2002.
#26051$3,000.00
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Copyright © 2002-2011 Donald A. Heald
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