Colton’s Map of Massachusetts and Rhode Island
New York: 1874 (copyright 1855)
Pocket map, folding into embossed cloth covers as issued
14 x 16.25 inches, overall
5 x 3.5 inches, covers
Red Tag Price: $250
Colton’s Map of Massachusetts and Rhode Island
Pocket Map: 1874
Pocket Map: 1874
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G.W. & C.B. Colton & Co.
Colton’s Map of Massachusetts and Rhode Island
New York: 1874 (copyright 1855)
Pocket map, folding into embossed cloth covers as issued
14 x 16.25 inches, overall
5 x 3.5 inches, covers
Red Tag Price: $250
Colton’s Map of Massachusetts and Rhode Island
New York: 1874 (copyright 1855)
Pocket map, folding into embossed cloth covers as issued
14 x 16.25 inches, overall
5 x 3.5 inches, covers
Red Tag Price: $250
Pocket map of typical format of the states of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, with a large inset map lower left of Boston and vicinity. Small neighboring parts of New Hampshire, New York and Vermont are also included, with less detail. Counties are colored green, yellow and pink, state lines are shaded with a thick red outline. Geographical entities include cities, towns, villages, railroads, canals, roads, rivers, harbors, bays and islands. Coastal lighthouses are also marked. The map folds into cloth covers, as issued, embossed with a design and imprinted with the title in gold lettering. Inside the front cover is an advertisement for Colton maps, atlases and guide books.
Between 1831 and 1890, the Colton family was among the most prominent and prolific American map publishers. The company was founded by Joseph H. Colton, who had no formal training in geography or cartography; his principal role was to manage the production and distribution of the maps. He began by publishing maps drawn by David H. Burr in the 1830s. The firm was renamed G.W. & C.B. Colton in the 1860s when Colton was succeeded by his sons -- George Woolworth Colton (1827-1901) and Charles B. Colton (c. 1831-1916). George Colton compiled the company's 1855 Atlas of the World and served thereafter as the firm's principal map compiler, cartographer and engraver. The company continued to publish a wide range of atlases, pocket maps, wall maps, folding maps for books, etc. until the 1890s, at which point mass production began to overtake the map business. According to map historian Walter W. Ristow, “[h]aving built their business on engraving and lithography, the Coltons were apparently unwilling to reorganize it."
Full publication information: “Published by G.W. and C.B. Colton & Co. No. 172 William St. New York. 1874. Entered according to Act of Congress in the Year 1855, by J.H. Colton & Co. in the Clerks Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York.”
Condition: Generally very good, the map with the usual overall light wear, toning, soiling, handling, spotting, soft creases. Usual light wear, faint browning, and minor openings at fold intersections. Covers very good with usual light overall toning, wear, soiling abrasions.
References:
Cohen, Paul E. and Augustyn, Robert T. Manhattan in Maps: 1527-1995. New York: Rizzoli, 1997. p. 120.
Ristow, Walter W. American Maps & Mapmakers: Commercial Cartography in the 19th Century. Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press, 1985. pp. 325, 327.