Johnson's Mountains and Rivers. New York: Johnson & Browning, ca. 1860. [10366]
Large double-plate hand-colored chart, 46 x 67.5 cm (18 x 26 3/4 inches), some incidental spotting, suitable for framing. There are some edge-tears in the margins, which will be covered with a mat when you have it framed. There are two tiny holes - one below and one in the "&" of "Johnson & Browning, at bottom. Will ship folded at center, as found. Removed from a bound volume, Johnson's New Illustrated Family Atlas. Good. Engraving.
This is a decorative chart comparing the lengths of rivers and the heights of monuments, mountains and volcanoes around the world. Cities and towns along the rivers and within the mountains are identified. The longest river is the combined Missouri & Mississippi; the shortest is the Merrimac. The shortest object is the Bunker Hill Monument; the tallest is Kunchinjinga in the Himalayas. There is a large printed list for this that identifies the 399 mountains & monuments by number that we will include with the chart. The list is quiet edge-worn but will assist you in identifying the features of the chart.
Alvin Jewett Johnson (1827-1884), b. Wallingford, Vermont; school teacher, for some years a book and map seller for J. H. Colton and Co. After some efforts at publishing his own maps, Johnson found success with his Family Atlas, publishing them in Richmond, Virginia and in New York City beginning in 1860. He and his partner Ross C. Browning (1822-1899) evidently purchased rights to Colton's maps, as they appear in the first Johnson's Family Atlas. Johnson updated his maps as cartography became more accurate, and Atlases during the 1860's were bound with maps bearing various dates until that particular map was updated. Johnson and Browning maps were published 1860-1862; Johnson and Ward were years 1862-1866; maps published by A. J. Johnson, A. J. Johnson and Son, A. J. Johnson & Co., date from 1866-1887.
Johnson's hand-colored maps are known for their accuracy to detail and are an important record of internal improvements and westward expansion. All are suitable for framing and valued by collectors.
