1856 COLTONS ATLAS OF AMERICA * FOLIO SIZE * VERY RARE PHILADELPHIA COMMERCIAL EDITION DOUBLE-FOLIO MAPS & ADS Start Price USD 95.00 Current Price USD 1,850.00 Time Left - Bid Count 13 Buy It Now Price - Reserve Price - Start Time Saturday, November 29, 2008 End Time Saturday, December 06, 2008 Location Londonderry, New Hampshire See more about '1856 COLTONS ATLAS OF AMERICA * FOLIO SIZE * VERY RARE' Description 1856 COLTON'S ATLAS OF AMERICA PHILADELPHIA COMMERCIAL EDITION FOLIO SIZE : 19 INCHES HIGH by 17 INCHES WIDE INCLUDES ALL MAPS OF NORTH AMERICA (INCLUDING CANADA & PROVINCES) , MEXICO & CENTRAL AMERICA and the CARIBBEAN AND WEST INDIES , PLUS THE ENTIRE OF SOUTH AMERICA ! Colton’s Atlas of America, Illustrating the Physical and Political Geography of North and South America and the West India Islands, By George W. Colton. New York: J.H. Colton and Company. [and] London: Trübner and Company, 1856 Large folio. Collation: “Index to Advertisers” on 1 leaf; Engraved title on one leaf; and printed in gold on one leaf; printed title page on one leaf; Introduction with many wood engravings, 5 leaves; “Appendix” with many wood engravings, 3 leaves; 156 unnumbered leaves comprising a “List of Maps” of which 62 of 63 are present (one map , # 50 Kansas & Nebraska is missing), maps, geographical descriptions and full and partial pages of advertisements, many using exquisite lithography and chromolithography. Back Cover is embossed blue board reading “Colton’s Atlas with Business Cards of the Prominent Houses in Philadelphia. Commercial Edition” blind stamped. This very scarce and special Commercial Atlas could be called the most beautiful atlas made in the United States in the Nineteenth Century. The maps and geographical descriptions are similar to most other Colton atlases, but the glory is in the advertisements which are of important commercial establishments for all of North America but with emphasis on Philadelphia businesses. All are beautifully printed in great variety.These compare favorably to FOLIO Size CURRIER & IVES Lithographs of the same period ! ! There are many colorful and beautiful illustrations. Due to the beauty of these pages, most of these atlases were broken up well prior to the end of the 20th century, according to the old-timers in the Philadelphia book trade. Now in the beginning of the twenty-first century the colorful prints of some of the factories, and the chromolithographs sell for hundreds and thousands of dollars. The two double page views of Cornelius & Baker factories recalls the fact that they sold huge quantities of gas light fixtures that are seen today in museums and historic houses; these manufacturers had the first telephone lines in Philadelphia that ran from one factory to the other. No copies of this atlas are found in the standard bibliographies. Phillips-LeGear 10269 is not this specific atlas, but probably uses the same maps. The maps have page numbers, and while not in sequence in this particular atlas, they are all present according to the printed contents list. Trübner, the London publisher, is not mentioned in the Library of Congress copy. A scarce, important, and yes absolutely beautiful atlas. (NOTE : The Philadelphia Print Shop Ltd. (www.philaprintshop.com) has a fully restored copy of this Atlas currently for sale at $24,000 ) Another ebayer sold a similar condition example about a month ago for over $5,000 ! ! CONDITION : Front board cover missing. Partial spine title still attached. A few pages loose and with minor soiling and margin tears, nothing bad. With the above being stated, I would say that the entire contentsare very good to many in excellent condition with bold colors! ! It should be noted that this RARE Atlas is printed on nice and heavy quality paper that is NOT yellowed or brittle ! ! ALSO, ALL of the DOUBLE-FOLIO Maps and Lithographs have a paper tab attached to the backso that you could remove and frame them as full sheets without any separations to the images ! We have set a VERY LOW starting bid and a VERY LOW RESERVE ! ! Powered by eBay Turbo Lister The free listing tool. List your items fast and easy and manage your active items. Place a Bid!