"Colton's Atlas of the World Illustrating Physical and Political Geography, Volume I [and] II", Colton, George Woolworth

This complete, matching two volume folio atlas contains two engraved frontispieces and 103 maps, each with Colton's decorative strapwork border. First edition with in black leather binding with gilt title and image of woman with globe. Both volumes complete with frontispiece, title pages, list of maps, text and tables. Gilt foredges. Volume I contains maps concentrating on the Western Hemisphere. 44 sheets relate to the United States, displaying 64 maps, with numerous sought after single-page state maps - many with city insets. Many of the maps contain fascinating and early western borders. With many great maps including: the U.S. map features Kanzas, the map of Texas shows early county configurations, map of Minnesota shows its border to the Missouri River. Also present is the most desirable Nebraska and Kanzas map which depicts Nebraska stretching from Kansas to the Canadian border and bounded on the side by Washington and Oregon at the Continental Divide and Minnesota on the east. Also with the maps of the Territories of New Mexico and Utah, the California map with the large inset of San Francisco, and the Territories of Washington and Oregon with their eastern boundaries on the Continental Divide and county development limited to the coastal areas. City plans included in Volume I are Montreal, Boston, New York (double-page), Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, Richmond, Norfolk/Portsmouth, Savannah/ Charleston, Louisville/New Orleans, Pittsburgh/Cincinnati, St. Louis/Chicago, Panama, Havana, Lima, Rio Janeiro, Pernambuco. This edition has the frontispiece showing Native American Indians overlooking a valley. Volume II continues with 42 maps of Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Oceania. City plans in Volume II include London and Paris (both black and white), Amsterdam, Brussels, Hamburg, Bremen, Vienna, and Hong-Kong. Opposite the title page the frontispiece shows four women studying a large globe turned to the Eastern Hemisphere. Also with the double-page comparative chart illustrating the heights of mountains and lengths of rivers.

References:

Condition: B+

This atlas has received professional attention in its binding and some maps. The covers have new leather spines and new free end papers. On Volume I the cover is abraded with some lifting and staining at bottom, the title page is backed to support long tears, frontice with fold that shows cracking, Northern America has paper added at binding trim and reattached to binding with no loss but is heavily soiled and stained with numerous closed tears. Some pages have damp stain in lower margins, worse on title page and frontice. In Volume II the damp stain appears on some pages in upper and lower margins in the front-most pages. Despite these specific flaws most of the maps are very good with fine images.