Framed Maps from “Johnson's New Illustrated Family Atlas”

We are excited to offer a selection of original maps from the rare 1870 edition of “Johnson's New Illustrated Family Atlas.”  First published in 1860, “Johnson's New Illustrated (Steel Plate) Family Atlas” was a comprehensive world atlas featuring 60 full-color maps. Designed to be both educational and a decorative addition to a home library, it reflected the 19th-century fascination with detailed and ornate cartographic publications. In addition to beautiful maps of American states and foreign countries, the atlas included geographical, statistical, and historical information. It also had a dictionary of religious denominations, a testament to its extensive scope and utility in the home. Well-respected for its contributions to science and geography, the “Family Atlas” was recognized with a First Prize Medal at the Universal Exposition of 1867 in Paris.

This 1870 publication of “Johnson's New Illustrated (Steel Plate) Family Atlas” is also notable for its inclusion of a treatise on physical geography by Professor Arnold Guyot, marking the first year his essay appeared in the atlas and his name featured on the cover. The work of Guyot, a pioneering, Swiss-born geographer, geologist, and educator, enriched the atlas with essays and maps that examined the physical forces shaping the earth. The inclusion of his work further demonstrates that period’s growing interest in scientific inquiry, making the atlas a valuable resource not just for navigation and geography, but also for understanding the natural world.

Recently back from our framer, we now have several individual maps from this fascinating 1870 edition available for purchase and ready to hang on your walls.