Colton’s Map of Florida.

$750.00

Item Number: 138647

New York: G.W. & C.B. Colton, 1868.

Rare 19th century printing of Colton’s map of Florida. One page, the lithographed map shows a detailed view of the state of Florida with an inset of the southern portion and the Keys. In near fine condition. Matted and framed. The entire piece measures 35.5 inches by 25.5 inches.

In 1846, Colton published Colton’s Map of the United States of America, British Possessions . . . his first venture into the wall map business. This work would be issued until 1884 and was the first of several successful wall maps issued by the firm, including collaborative works with D.G. Johnson. From the 1840s to 1855, the firm focused on the production of railroad maps. Later, it published a number of Civil War maps. In 1855, Colton finally issued his first atlas, Colton’s Atlas of the World, issued in two volumes in 1855 and 1856, but later, in 1857, the work was reduced to a single volume under the title of Colton’s General Atlas, which was published in largely the same format until 1888. It is in this work that George Woolworth (G. W.) Colton’s name appears for the first time. Born in 1827 and lacking formal training as a mapmaker, G. W. joined his father’s business and would later help it to thrive. His brother Charles B. (C. B.) Colton would also join the firm. Beginning in 1859, the General Atlas gives credit to Johnson & Browning, a credit which disappears after 1860, when Johnson & Browning launched their own atlas venture, Johnson’s New Illustrated (Steel Plate) Family Atlas . . .which bears Colton’s name as the publisher in the 1860 and 1861 editions. The firm continued until the late 1890s, when it merged with a competitor and then ceased to trade under the name Colton.