This item has been sold, but you can get on the Waitlist to be notified if another example becomes available, or purchase a digital scan.

1891 Walker Map of Cape Ann, Massachusetts - First Edition!

CapeAnn-walker-1891
$175.00
[Cape Ann.] Massachusetts Atlas Plate No. 2. - Main View
Processing...

1891 Walker Map of Cape Ann, Massachusetts - First Edition!

CapeAnn-walker-1891

The first edition of an impressively detailed map of Cape Ann.

Title


[Cape Ann.] Massachusetts Atlas Plate No. 2.
  1891 (dated)     20 x 28 in (50.8 x 71.12 cm)     1 : 63360

Description


This is a first edition 1891 Oscar W. Walker map of Cape Ann / Gloucester, Massachusetts. Depicting the region from Woodchuck Hill to the Dry Salvages and from South Byfield to Marblehead Neck, the map provides a clear and, more importantly, usable, overview of the area. Cities and towns are labeled throughout, including Salem, Danvers, Marblehead, Ipswich, Beverly, Gloucester, and Rockport. Plum Island and the Plum Island River occupy the top center. Major roads wind across the map, and differentiation between three different road grades allows travelers unfamiliar with the area to know the best roads to take. Stark black lines mark several branches of the Boston and Maine Railroad and railroad stations are identified.
Publication History and Census
This map was compiled by Oscar W. Walker and published by George H. Walker in the first edition of his Atlas of Massachusetts in 1891. Two examples of the 1896 edition of the separate map are cataloged in OCLC as being part of the institutional collections at Harvard College and the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts. An example of the entire 1891 edition of the Atlas of Massachusetts is part of the David Rumsey Map Collection. The OCLC catalogs fourteen institutions as having an example of one of the editions of the Atlas of Massachusetts in their collection.

Cartographer


George Hiram Walker (January 4, 1852 - November 14, 1927) was a Boston based publisher of books, views, and maps active in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born in Springfield, Vermont, Walker started his life as a dry goods merchant but developed an active interest in publishing during the early 1870s. Walker began publishing in 1878 when he partnered with an unknown New York Firm. Two years later, Walker brought the operation in house by partnering with his brother, Oscar W. Walker, in the opening of a lithography studio at 81 Milk Street, Boston. Shortly thereafter the firm expanded to new offices at 160 Tremont Street, Boston. The Walker brothers produced a large corpus of works, most of which focused on travel and tourism in New England. Walker also established the Walker-Gordon Milk Laboratory with Dr. Thomas Morgan Rotch and Gustave Gordon. This interesting investment was based on the premise that infant deaths could be avoided by providing higher quality milk. The company eventually became a great success, producing a high-quality cow milk that closely resembled human breast milk. In the process the Walker-Gordon laboratory developed many of the dairy health standards that are still with us today. Walker married Irene L. Loud on March 25, 1885. More by this mapmaker...

Source


Walker, O.W., Atlas of of Massachusetts, (Boston: George H. Walker) 1891.     The Atlas of Massachusetts, compiled by Oscar W. Walker and published by George W. Walker, was the result of over ten years of work. Over one hudred civil engineers and surveyors surveyed the Massachusetts, each of whom examined and approved proofs of the final product. Local historians, town clerks, and other town and city officials, as well as private individuals, provided help concerning local names and other information that otherwise would have been unknown to the atlas's publishers. In the introduction to the atlas, George Walker lauds the attention to detail and the unceasing effort to achieve the highest possible degree of accuracy. Specifically he cites the difficulties associated with the myriad railroad crossings located across the state, and the importance placed on accurately describing road conditions throughout the state. Walker wanted the atlas to be accessible and useful for a broad audience, allowing the user to know road conditions in cities and towns with which they were not familiar. First published in 1891 and appears to have been published in multiple editions through at least 1922.

Condition


Very good.

References


Rumsey 2006.012. OCLC 58387130 (1896).