Antique Vermont Wall Maps Now Available On CD
David Allen, of Old-Maps.com, got a well-deserved press mention in the Burlington Free Press for a new project -- putting important Vermont wall maps, circa 1850, onto CDs. The CDs are offered for sale through David's website.
Preserving Antique Wall Maps
Antique wall maps are one of the most overlooked categories of the antique maps business. They are scarce, they are fragile (often in poor condition), and they tend to be expensive. Hence you don't see them on many antique map dealer websites, which is a shame. Old wall maps are treasure troves of information. Usually drawn on the county or town level, and usually mid-19th century, wall maps typically show incredible detail -- often depicting indiviual landowners, businesses, institutions, and so forth. Many have borders with beautiful vignettes showing local scenes. In addition to collectors of antique maps, wall maps are likely of great interest and use to local historians, genealogists, librarians, and many others.
In light of the scarcity of old wall maps, David Allen has performed a really worthwhile project here. As noted in the Burlington Free Press article, it took about 500 individual scans to create the necessary images to reproduce just 11 Vermont wall maps (which measure about 60" x 60" on average). Thanks to David Allen for a project that contributes to the preservation of New England's cartographic heritage.
Preserving Antique Wall Maps
Antique wall maps are one of the most overlooked categories of the antique maps business. They are scarce, they are fragile (often in poor condition), and they tend to be expensive. Hence you don't see them on many antique map dealer websites, which is a shame. Old wall maps are treasure troves of information. Usually drawn on the county or town level, and usually mid-19th century, wall maps typically show incredible detail -- often depicting indiviual landowners, businesses, institutions, and so forth. Many have borders with beautiful vignettes showing local scenes. In addition to collectors of antique maps, wall maps are likely of great interest and use to local historians, genealogists, librarians, and many others.
In light of the scarcity of old wall maps, David Allen has performed a really worthwhile project here. As noted in the Burlington Free Press article, it took about 500 individual scans to create the necessary images to reproduce just 11 Vermont wall maps (which measure about 60" x 60" on average). Thanks to David Allen for a project that contributes to the preservation of New England's cartographic heritage.
posted by Neil Street at 10:10 AM
David Allen has certainly done a service for historical map studies...I myself own a wonderful Gould wall map of Ulster County, NY and as tech savvy as I am, I can't begin to imagine how I would physically scan the thing, let alone publish it! 19th century wall maps are the "dark horse" of map collecting and their value to local communities, not to mention American History as a whole, is only destined to grow!
1 Comments:
JWDragon
http://www.antiquecolor.com
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