Description
Complete set of Johnson’s New Illustrated Family Atlas of the World.
Folio, 99pp [text], [92 numbered plates]. Black leather spine and corners with title and embellishments in gilt, green cloth boards with detailed border stamped in blind and title in gilt. Nameplate below title belonging to “H.P. Crouse.” Solid text block, light even toning to some leaves, occasional foxing to edges and trace finger marks, a near fine example. Features a complete set of 92 maps and illustrative plates, with two additional unnumbered maps. Closed tear at bottom of text pages 23/24. Spine, corners and fore edge of boards rubbed with wear. Special inclusions to this edition are a double-page map of Texas, maps with the new territories of Dakota and Colorado, and a New Military Map depicting the “Forts, Military Posts & all the Military Divisions” including the new southwestern territories. A scarce work showcasing pre-Civil War America.
Alvin Jewett Johnson (1827-1884) decided to begin publishing atlases in 1860. His primary competition consisted of two long-standing family businesses run by S. Augustus Mitchell and Joseph H. Colton. Although his atlases never reached the same levels of success as the other two publishers, Johnson’s atlases feature a wide range of information about the United States and the world, along with religious, geographic, cultural, and political data both in written and visual form.
