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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.
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#16085 $15,000.00 
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© 2002-2005 Donald A. Heald
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