Historic Peaks Island, Maine, c. 1886, Bird's Eye View Map (S) (WS)

Original town views have been sold at auction for as high as several thousand dollars. This custom made, authentic reproduction would make an elegant gift or tasteful addition to the home or office.

HISTORY OF THE PANORAMIC MAP

A popular cartographic form used to depict U.S. and Canadian cities and towns during the late 19th and early 20th centuries was the panoramic map. Also known as town views, panoramic maps are not generally drawn to scale. They show street patterns, buildings, and major landscape features in perspective. Preparation of panoramic maps involved a vast amount of painstakingly detailed labor. For each project a frame was developed, showing in perspective the pattern of streets. The artist then walked the streets, sketching buildings, trees, and other features to present a complete landscape as seen from an elevation of 2,000-3,000 feet. These data were then entered on the frame in his workroom. The most successful print publisher in the nineteenth century was Currier and lves. Best remembered for their views of daily life in Victorian America, they also prepared birds-eye views of New York City, Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, and Washington. Famous panoramic artists included Albert Ruger, Thaddeus Fowler, and the brothers, O.H and H.H Bailey. Surviving panoramic maps are very popular today and command premium prices from map and print dealers. Panoramic maps give a pictorial record of Anglo-Americas cities during the post-Civil War period and for many localities, provide the sole nineteenth-century perspective of the community. (Source: Library of Congress).