Item #10552 Map of Boston and its Vicinity From Actual Surveys Under the Direction of H.F. Walling, Superintendent of the State Map. 1859 …. H. F. WALLING.
Map of Boston and its Vicinity From Actual Surveys Under the Direction of H.F. Walling, Superintendent of the State Map. 1859 …
Map of Boston and its Vicinity From Actual Surveys Under the Direction of H.F. Walling, Superintendent of the State Map. 1859 …
Rare Wall Map of Boston and Vicinity
Boston & Surrounding Area.
[Boston, 1859]

Map of Boston and its Vicinity From Actual Surveys Under the Direction of H.F. Walling, Superintendent of the State Map. 1859 ….

56 x 64 inches, Lithograph with original wash & outline color, refreshed. Expertly conserved & re-mounted on new linen; several closed splits, rubbed areas with minor losses, occasional waterstaining, overall fair to good condition.

Very rare wall map of Boston and the surrounding area of extraordinary detail. OCLC has locates only two copies (U. of Chicago & U. of Houston). Not in Mapping Boston. Back Bay is seen on the map in the first years of the great landfill project with the proposed street plan indicated with dashed lines. The railroad line that carried the gravel used for the landfill from Needham is also shown. The other rail lines in existence at the time are also shown. Navigational information for Boston Harbor—depths, beacons, lighthouses, and channels—is also provided.
The map extends to the west to include part of Newton and all or most of Belmont, Watertown and West Cambridge. It presents a remarkably complete picture of the roads and streets both within and between towns and cities. The locations of many residences are indicated and in many cases their owners’ names are noted as well. Industries and businesses throughout the area are also indicated.
A much-reduced edition of the map was published by E. P. Dutton in 1860; there was evidently an 1861 edition in the size of the present edition, but OCLC lists only a single copy of it.
Henry F. Walling (1825-1888) is identified on the map as the Superintendent of the State Map, presumably of Massachusetts. The breadth of his company’s capabilities is indicated in the assertion on the map that it was “Drawn, Engraved, Printed, Colored and Mounted” at the company’s premises in New York City. However, F. A. Baker in Boston is noted as the publisher. Ristow observed that Walling was “the most active publisher of state atlases between 1868 and 1885…[and] was one of the earliest producers of town and county maps.” Ristow further mentions that Walling had assembled a large personal collection of county maps, and it was from these that he produced his commercially available county maps. In his later years, from 1884 to his death, Walling was engaged in a geodetic survey of the state of Massachusetts.


* Cf. Ristow, W. American Maps & Mapmakers, p. 428.

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