North America: Colton 1856

Title: North America Author: J. H. Colton Date: 1856 Medium: Hand-colored lithograph Condition: Very Good Plus - light age toning, few areas of surface dirt Inches: 14 x 17 [Paper] Centimeters: 35.6 x 43.1 [Paper] Product ID: 100980 Joseph Hutchins Colton (1800-1893) moved to New York City from his birthplace of Longmeadow, Massachusetts to start the J.H. Colton Company in 1831. Though he did not come from a cartographic or engraving background, Colton licensed copyrights from other cartographers such as David H. Burr and Samuel Stiles, producing quality reprints with additional engraving and border detail. After ten years of operating with this business model, Colton branched out to produce original maps, and by the 1850s had grown his company into a booming cartographic firm. Though the Colton Company published a variety of cartographic materials such as guidebooks and atlases, it is perhaps best known for its railroad maps. Distinguished by their elaborate decorative bor