Gould and Lincoln atlas

Gould and Lincoln atlas
Title	Gould and Lincoln atlas
Country	United States
Language	English
Subject	Cartography
Publisher	Gould and Lincoln
Pub date	1860s

Gould and Lincoln atlas is an American atlas produced in the mid‑19th century by the Boston firm Gould and Lincoln. The atlas compiled detailed maps and county plans that reflected contemporary interests in westward expansion, railroads, and urban growth in the United States, engaging figures and institutions active during the antebellum and Civil War eras. It has been studied by historians of cartography, collectors of regional atlases, and curators at major repositories.

Overview

The atlas gathered state maps, county maps, and city views that intersect with the cartographic traditions of Rand McNally, Samuel Augustus Mitchell, John Tallis, Benjamin Franklin Trueblood, and David Rumsey. Its pages show relationships among transportation networks such as the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, the Pennsylvania Railroad, and the Erie Railroad, and reflect territorial arrangements shaped by treaties including the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and legislation like the Homestead Act. The atlas’ graphic conventions relate to earlier plates by Aaron Arrowsmith, John Cary, James Wyld, and to contemporary lithographers associated with the Boston Athenaeum and the Library of Congress collections.

Publication History

Gould and Lincoln published the atlas during a period when firms like J.H. Colton, S. Augustus Mitchell, and Thaddeus Mortimer Fowler were active in American mapmaking. The imprint appears in Boston directories alongside businesses such as Harper & Brothers and Little, Brown and Company. Surviving imprints indicate print runs contemporaneous with editions from 1860 through the American Civil War. Business relationships tied the firm to plate cutters and lithographers who had worked for Joseph C. Wells and Nathaniel Currier, and distribution reached urban centers including New York City, Philadelphia, Chicago, and San Francisco.

Cartographic Content and Methods

Maps in the atlas employ techniques shared with works by Henry Schenck Tanner, Asher B. Durand, and William Brewster, using copperplate engraving and lithography familiar to the studios of J. H. Bufford and T. Sinclair & Co.. Content ranges from detailed county boundaries associated with New York and Pennsylvania to western territories shaped by the Gadsden Purchase and disputes around the Oregon Treaty. The atlas annotates rail corridors tied to companies such as the Union Pacific Railroad and the Central Pacific Railroad, and marks ports like Boston, New Orleans, and Mobile. Toponymy reflects survey work linked to the United States Geological Survey precursor efforts and to state surveyors who also appear in publications by Benjamin B. French and Joseph Ellicott.

Contributors and Production

Engravers, draughtsmen, and publishers associated with the atlas include figures and firms active in Boston and New York print houses comparable to E. & G.W. Blunt, George Washington Hill, and J. H. Colton and Company. Plates are stylistically near those produced by Anthony Finley and the workshops of S. Hall Young. Contributors drew on census and political materials from the United States Census Bureau and cartographic information circulated by the United States War Department and state legislatures of Massachusetts, Ohio, and Missouri.

Reception and Influence

Collectors, librarians, and scholars at institutions such as the New York Public Library, the Library of Congress, the American Antiquarian Society, and the Boston Public Library have cited the atlas in studies of urbanization, rail history, and land use. It influenced later regional atlases produced by firms like G.M. Hopkins, Sanborn Map Company, and D.G. Beers. Historians referencing the atlas juxtapose it with primary sources including county records from Allegheny County and municipal archives in Cleveland, Buffalo, and St. Louis to trace demographic and infrastructural change.

Surviving Copies and Provenance

Extant copies are held in special collections at the Library of Congress, the Newberry Library, the Massachusetts Historical Society, and university libraries such as Harvard University, Yale University, and the University of California, Berkeley. Provenance records often show acquisition from 19th‑century antiquarian dealers like Henry Stevens and auction houses such as Sotheby's and Christie's. Provenance trails sometimes intersect with private collections once owned by figures tied to railroad expansion and municipal development, whose correspondence appears in repositories like the National Archives and Records Administration.

Category:Atlases Category:19th-century maps