1865 "Johnson's Missouri and Kansas" Map by Johnson and Ward

Presented is an original 1865 "Johnson's Missouri and Kansas” map. This map was issued as pages 59 and 60 in the 1865 edition of “Johnson's New Illustrated (Steel Plate) Family Atlas.” The map is engraved, with attractive hand coloring and a decorative strapwork border. The states of Kansas and Missouri are outlined in pink and colored by county. Depicted but not colored are the neighboring states of Iowa, Illinois, and Arkansas. The map is beautifully detailed, with railroads, roads, rivers and creeks, and important cities and towns all marked.  The "Osages" tribe is labeled in the lower 1/8 of Kansas. There is very little development in western Kansas. There are three inset vignette illustrations of "Spearing Fish," "Santa Fe from the Great Missouri Trail," and "Fire on the Prairie." 

This 1865 Johnson and Ward publication of “Johnson's New Illustrated (Steel Plate) Family Atlas” was written by Richard Swainson Fisher, M.D. Fisher was also the author of "Colton's General Atlas of the World," "The Gazetteer of the United States," and a past editor of the Journal of American Geographical and Statistical Society. The publishing company of Johnson and Ward was a successor to Johnson and Browning, themselves a successor to the famous publishing company, J. H. Colton and Company. A combination of both new plates and older, updated ones, all of the maps in this atlas were compiled, drawn, and engraved under the supervision of J. H. Colton and A. J. Johnson. The new plates, copyrighted by A.J. Johnson, were made exclusively for Johnson's New Illustrated Family Atlas. Others are the same as used in "Colton's General Atlas." 

This early 1865 issued atlas offered a really unique and timely snapshot of the United States just after the Civil War. In addition to the maps, the atlas had several pages of American history, recent federal census data, and geographical and statistical notes. The highlight was its “Chronological History of the Civil War in America” with battle records and dates. It also contained updates on the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and subsequent pursuit and death of John Wilkes Booth and included two Civil War-era maps, one of the “Vicinity of Richmond and Peninsular Campaign in Virginia” and the “New Military Map of the United States.” 

CONDITION: 

Fine condition overall. Hand Colored. Page 59 and 60 from Johnson's New Illustrated (Steel Plate) Family Atlas. Strapwork border. Colored by county in Kansas and Missouri. Uncolored in neighboring states of Iowa, Illinois, Arkansas. Toning, few areas of foxing. Double page, 18" H x 26 1/4" W.