Galveston, TX: Galveston Daily News, 1886. 14.5 x 20.5 (including masthead). This is a crude, probably woodcut map of Texas and the southwest that takes up the entire front page of the Galveston Daily News. It shows an area from Chicago in the northeast to southern and lower California. Emphasis is on rail connections to Galveston, both existing routes to st. Louis and Kansas and proposed lines to Santa Fe (thus connecting to the transcontinental railroads) and to central Mexico. There is some detail of railroads through the west although the strike is weak and some information is blurred. I am reminded of Mark Twain's observation that the amazing thing about a dancing dog is not that the dog dances well but that it dances at all. This is a remarkable local production for the time and even more exceptional that it has survived. (No thanks to the Library of Congress. The map has a small tag from the LOC and has been cut at the left edge. This was done to allow the library to microfilm the newspaper before deaccessioning it, a truly idiotic practice that means 1) that much of the information already faint on the map will be illegible on the film, and 2) the public will never again have the experience of handling the actual document. End of rant.) It was prepared by E.A. Hensoldt who apparently did an 1883 map of Texas railroads for an insert to the Galveston Daily News, although the earlier one was printed by Rand-McNally. This one was obviously printed locally. Included is the entire issue of the News, a total of six sheets, and there is almost a full page of text describing the rail system in the United States and promoting Galveston as a natural center of transportation. As you would expect, the paper is browned and very fragile with some minor edge chips and tears. The margin at the top of the map is close and there is some internal loss of text, both resulting from the trimming, and the paper has been folded twice. I have placed the individual leaves into individual acetate holders so that you, at least, will be able to handle the original document. Item #26304

Price: $450.00