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RARE Complete 1859 Colton's General Atlas Maps US+WORLD
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RARE Complete 1859 Colton's General Atlas Maps US+WORLD
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RARE Complete 1859 Colton's General Atlas
ORIGINAL 1/4 Leather & Cloth Binding Leather Chipped on Spine , BINDING TIGHT. Back board Detached . All Contents Complete and in excellent Condition, except Germany maps; One had a one-inch border tear, and the other (No.13) has foxing . Those minor tears to pages were repaired with Filmoplast archival adhesive. This complete atlas is becoming very difficult to locate on the current market, and its estimated value is in the $4,000-5,000 range . Dealers "break" up atlases of this caliber offer individual maps for hundreds, but I have decided to sell complete, hoping the purchaser does not mutilate it. Here's some interesting information about the atlas; you may want to read: Colton’s General Atlas with Descriptions of 1859 was created by Joseph Hutchins Colton. The Atlas measures 15” x 18”. The cover contains the full title, embossed and gold leafed. The Atlas features “one hundred seventy steel plate maps and plans,” of which 45 document the United States of America. The Atlas opens with a remarkable engraving of a globe surrounded by four female allegorical figures, one holding a sextant and another leaning on a telescope. A painter's palette, an hourglass, and a book, are placed in the foreground. The composition, with its classically garbed females, and attributes representing the arts and sciences, is a reference to the mythology of the muses. The engraving is by C. Wise, after an original work, c. 1840, by F. A. Chapman. The map of the world is accompanied by general global knowledge of the time including information under the subheadings of Atmosphere, Arial Currents, Atmospheric Vapor, Climate, Electricity and Magnetism, Geographic Distribution of Plants, Geographic Distribution of Animals, and Races . The Atlas includes individual maps by continent, country, state, territory and city. Each regional map is accompanied by a survey of fundamental attributes of civilized life and geographical characteristics, namely Astronomical Position, Boundaries, Dimensions, Physical Aspects, Political, Population, Industry, Agriculture, Religion, Education, and History . Many charts and graphs of this statistical data are included. In this way, the Atlas serves also as an almanac and encyclopedia. Library statistics are included, indicating the view of libraries as paramount institutions in society in the mid-nineteenth century. As the Atlas was published just two years prior to the Civil War, the statistics include slaves and the “free colored population.” The lexicon is of its time. The descriptive articles include many terms that have come to be considered derogatory, as is indicated in the following excerpt from Civil Divisions, Population, Etc. of Maine. “Of the population in 1850 the number of persons “deaf and dumb” was 266, of which 265 were white and 1 free colored, of persons “blind” 198, all of which were whites, of persons “insane” 561, of which 556 were whites and 5 free colored; and of persons “idiotic” 577, of which 575 were whites and 2 free colored.”There are two notable inserts that serve as tools for the comparison of topographical features. This can be seen in the map titled Mountains & Rivers. While visually interesting, they also provide the viewer a context to compare inherent assets of the world’s regions. These are essentially graphs, a means of displaying the textual information contained within the atlas, visually. Colton’s Atlas is a culmination of surveys and maps previously created. There are many curiosities about the maps that can be understood by the political and cultural events that led to the creation of borders and geographical features. The surveying techniques of the mid 19 th century incorporated the use of several tools, including the compass, the surveyor’s chain for measurement, the astrolabe for locating and predicting the positions of the Sun, Moon, Planets, and Stars, the telescope, and the theodolite to measure arcs relative to points in space. The grid that is apparent in the map of the ...
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