1867 First Edition Drew Map of Florida - Deposit 10K Due

Columbus Drew (January 6, 1820 - July 8, 1891) was a Florida lawyer, politician, writer, bookseller, publisher, and printer active in the mid to late 19th century. Drew was born in Virginia and grew up in Washington D.C., earning a law degree. As a young man he worked with Gales and Seaton of the National Intelligencer. By 1847 he was working as an editor of the Whig-leaning American. Before the American Civil War (1861 - 1865), Drew was an ardent Whig. He was enticed to relocate to Jacksonville, Florida in 1848 to edit the Florida-Whig journal Republican. In 1855, Drew established his stationers business - one of the first in Jacksonville. Although as a Whig he opposed both slavery and the succession, when the Civil War broke out he remained loyal to his adopted state and worked for the Confederate cause. Drew moved briefly to Richmond to take a position in the Confederate Treasury Department. After the war he returned to his stationers shop in Jacksonville where he applied for and received a Federal Pardon for working with the Confederacy. In 1876, Drew was called upon to assume the post of state Comptroller. At this time he sold his stationery business to his son, Horace (January 20, 1854 - January 4, 1926), who renamed it 'H. Drew Company'. Shortly thereafter, in 1886, Horace took on his younger brother, William B. Drew, as a partner, renaming the firm 'H. Drew and Brother'. The name was again changed in 1893, when it was formally incorporated as 'H. and W. B. Drew Company'. This firm still operates as 'Wells and Drew'. Columbus Drew was a leading figure in the development of Florida during the Reconstruction Era following the Civil War. His influence impacted the development of state railways, canals, drainage projects, and other civil works. Cartographically he is best known for the publication of his 1867 New Map of the State of Florida, which, through numerous editions and revisions, chronicles the history and development of the state during a critical period. This map is now extremely scarce in any edition. Horace Drew, who continued to publish an update his father's important map. The Drew family became leading citizens in Jacksonville and today their historic Victorian home enjoys landmark status. Drew is interred at the Old Jacksonville City Cemetery. More by this mapmaker...

Julius (Julien) Bien (September 27, 1826 - December 21, 1909) was a German-Jewish lithographer and engraver based in New York City. Bien was born in Naumburg, Germany. He was educated at the Academy of Fine Arts, Cassell and at Städel's Institute, Frankfurt-am-Main. Following the suppression of the anti-autocratic German Revolutions of 1848, Bien, who participated in the pan-German movement, found himself out of favor in his home country and joined the mass German immigration to the United States. Bien can be found in New York as early as 1849. He established the New York Lithographing, Engraving & Printing Company in New York that focused on the emergent chromo-lithograph process - a method of printing color using lithographic plates. His work drew the attention of the U.S. Government Printing Office which contracted him to produce countless government maps and surveys, including the Pacific Railroad Surveys, the census, numerous coast surveys, and various maps relating to the American Civil War. Bien also issued several atlases both privately and in conjunction with a relation, Joseph Bien. At the height of his career Bien was elected president of the American Lithographers Association. After his death in 1909, Bien's firm was taken over by his son who promptly ran it into insolvency. The firm was sold to Sheldon Franklin, who, as part of the deal, retained the right to publish under the Julius Bien imprint. In addition to his work as a printer, Bien was active in the New York German Jewish community. He was director of the New York Hebrew Technical Institute, the New York Hebrew Orphan Asylum, and president of the B'nai B'rith Order. Learn More...