1898 George H. Walker and Company Map Catalog

MapCatalogue-walker-1898
$575.00
Catalogue of Road Maps, City Maps, and Atlases, Published by Geo. H. Walker and Co. - Main View
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1898 George H. Walker and Company Map Catalog

MapCatalogue-walker-1898

Catalog of a prolific Boston map publisher.
$575.00

Title


Catalogue of Road Maps, City Maps, and Atlases, Published by Geo. H. Walker and Co.
  1898 (undated)     6.25 x 3.5 in (15.875 x 8.89 cm)

Description


An interesting bit of cartographic ephemera, this is the c. 1898 George H. Walker and Company twenty-four-page catalog of maps, atlases, and other related products. A prolific Boston-based map publisher, this catalog provides an overview of a successful map publisher's output and a glimpse of how maps were sold and advertised around the turn of the 20th century.
A Closer Look
An index of atlases, wall maps, pocket maps, pocket railroad maps, and pocket road maps precedes the catalog proper and provides the place, page number, and price for each product. Then the catalog begins with a few short explanations followed by 19 pages filled with descriptions of maps that include the price, type (wall map, pocket map, atlas, etc.), and a short description.
Publication History and Census
This catalog was created and published by George H. Walker and Company c. 1898. We note a single cataloged example: University of Massachusetts Amherst. Per the OCLC entry, the Amherst example bears the imprint: 'For sale by H.L. De Blaeu, Bookseller, Stationer and Newsdealer…Albany, N.Y.' The presently offered example bears a similar but different imprint: 'For Sale by Boston Map Store. 'Old Corner Book Store'…Boston, Mass.' This underscores how such catalogs were distributed.

Cartographer


George Hiram Walker (January 4, 1852 - November 14, 1927) was a Boston based publisher of books, views, and maps active in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born in Springfield, Vermont, Walker started his life as a dry goods merchant but developed an active interest in publishing during the early 1870s. Walker began publishing in 1878 when he partnered with an unknown New York Firm. Two years later, Walker brought the operation in house by partnering with his brother, Oscar W. Walker, in the opening of a lithography studio at 81 Milk Street, Boston. Shortly thereafter the firm expanded to new offices at 160 Tremont Street, Boston. The Walker brothers produced a large corpus of works, most of which focused on travel and tourism in New England. Walker also established the Walker-Gordon Milk Laboratory with Dr. Thomas Morgan Rotch and Gustave Gordon. This interesting investment was based on the premise that infant deaths could be avoided by providing higher quality milk. The company eventually became a great success, producing a high-quality cow milk that closely resembled human breast milk. In the process the Walker-Gordon laboratory developed many of the dairy health standards that are still with us today. Walker married Irene L. Loud on March 25, 1885. More by this mapmaker...

Condition


Very good. Twenty-four page booklet.

References


OCLC 21915173.