Item #9366 Map of the Counties of Barnstable, Dukes and Nantucket, Massachusetts…. H. F. WALLING.
Map of the Counties of Barnstable, Dukes and Nantucket, Massachusetts…
Map of the Counties of Barnstable, Dukes and Nantucket, Massachusetts…
Map of the Counties of Barnstable, Dukes and Nantucket, Massachusetts…
A Richly Detailed, Rare Wall Map
Nantucket/ Martha’s Vineyard / Cape Cod.
[New York, 1858]

Map of the Counties of Barnstable, Dukes and Nantucket, Massachusetts….

60 x 56 inches, With original rollers, separate; attractive original color, refreshed; expertly re-mounted on new linen & fully conserved; some usual splitting, relatively minor losses, relatively bright patina, overall excellent of this type.

Very scarce and richly informative wall map of these historic islands and the beautiful Cape. As Garver noted, “Walling aimed for a comprehensive, almost encyclopedic, overview of these three counties and their principal population centers.” Thus, the map remains a valuable source for an array of historical data: the locations of early industries and the homes of both the familiar and the obscure, early rail lines and roads, and early topographic and shoreline features that have been altered over time. There are also numerous inset plans of towns on the map, 40 in all, and as Garver observed, “each of the forty insets is a map in its own right, and many of these communities were described in detail for the first time.” Included are the town of Nantucket; Edgartown, West Tisbury and Holmes Hole (today’s Vineyard Haven) on Martha’s Vineyard; Chatham, Wellfleet, Provincetown, Hyannis, even Truro Village, and several others including all but the very smallest towns. All of these inset plans provide the names of residents and the locations of their homes. Of the Nantucket plan in particular, Garver said: “The map of the town of Nantucket, for instance, depicts a dense cluster of streets and properties and, in the immediate vicinity of the harbor, numerous candle manufacturers and oil sheds, boat shops, a bank, an inn, a bakery, the customhouse, a bowling alley, and an abattoir—in fact, everything that the properly appointed port should contain in a compact space.” Moreover, for certain of the larger towns, again Nantucket and Edgartown included, there are business directories listing the providers of various goods and services. There are seven views on the map including two of Provincetown as seen in 1620 and 1858 respectively, and one of the Pacific Bank in Nantucket.
A possible reason for the scarcity of the map is that the relatively small population of this area at the time would have resulted in a small print run to begin with. Also, the moist climate of the area would have deteriorated many copies of a map originally intended as a wall hanging.


* Garver, J. Surveying the Shore, pp. 102-103.

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