1861 Schaus Bird's Eye View Map of Virginia, Delaware, and North Carolina (Seat of War)

Carl Wilhelm Friederich Schaus (July 4, 1821 - December, 29 1892), generally known as William Schaus, was a German-American art dealer and print maker active in the middle to late 19th century. He was born in Nassau, Deggendorf, Bayern, Germany. Schaus began his career in Paris with the established 'Goupil, Vibert et Cie.' Around 1857, Schaus was sent to New York to establish an American branch of the French firm as well as to set up an International Art Union to compete with the powerful American Art Union. Schaus, with his considerable experience and support from abroad, was able to lure several important artists away from the American Art Union. This helped him to develop an impressive portfolio of artists and prints. In the early 1860 Schaus split with Goupil Vilbert to establish his own offices at 629 Broadway, in New York City. By the late 1860s he was the most powerful art dealer in New York, they type 'who only met the richest classes' (Democrat and Chronical, January 7, 1893). He was the first to import a genuine Rembrandt, The Gilder to the United States. He also issued a varied corpus of works that included maps, views, art prints, and illustrations. He retired in March of 1892, leaving his business to his son, Hermann Schaus and partner A. W. Conover. His vast personal art collection sold at auction in May of 1892. His daughter, Mabel Schaus (1865 - 1900) was involved in a romantic scandal that rocked New York social life when she eloped with a married man 'Stillman', who ironically died a year later. He died in December of that year. Another of Schaus's sons, William Schaus Jr. (1858 - 1942) was a famous entomologist. Schaus is interred in New York's Greenwood Cemetery. More by this mapmaker...

Napoleon Sarony (March 9, 1821 - November 9, 1896) was a dashingly handsome Canadian-American lithographer and publisher active in New York in the mid to late 19th century. Sarony was born in Quebec and emigrated to New York City in 1835. He apprenticed under Henry Robinson (fl. 1830/33 - 1850) before working as a lithograph artist for Nathaniel Currier (1813 - 1888). In 1846, he partnered with Currier's apprentice lithographer Henry B. Major to establish the firm of 'Sarony and Major.' From offices at 117 Futon Street, they published under this imprint until roughly 1853, when Sarony split off on his own under the imprint 'Sarony and Co.', still at 117 Fulton. At the time 'and Co.' probably meant Joseph Fairchild Knapp (1832 - 1891), Sarony's apprentice, and Richard C. Major, possibly Henry Major's son. In 1857, a new imprint was established as 'Sarony, Major and Knapp'. According to an advertisement in the New York Times (Feb 16, 1864), Sarony had invested in the business at founding, but was not an active partner, possibly because he was traveling in Europe. It is unclear why Sarony's name was maintained, possibly to capitalize on his fame, as a honorific, or possibly because he owned a major stake. They published under this imprint until 1863, becoming a major concern at 449 Broadway. Sarony's name was formally removed from the partnership in 1863. At the time he was traveling in Europe, mastering the most advanced color lithography and photographic techniques. He is known to have worked in France, Germany, and England. He returned to New York in the 1860s, establishing a photography company at 37 Union Square that became famous for its portraits of late-19th-century American theater icons. In 1891, Sarony, hoping to capitalize on Sarah Bernhardt's fame as 'Cleopatra', paid the stage actress 1,500 USD to sit for a photo session, the modern-day equivalent of 20,000 USD - suggesting a highly prosperous business. His son, Otto Sarony (1850–1903), continued the family business as a theater and film star photographer. As an aside, Sarony's second wife, Louie Sarony, was a known eccentric who would reportedly dress in elaborate rented costumes to walk around Washington Square each afternoon. Learn More...