A scarce and handsome map of Virginia, prepared by the German mapmaker Ludwig von Bucholtz in the course of updating Herman Böÿe’s official 1827 map of the state.

Bucholtz’s map delineates the state’s counties and principal towns, including dozens of counties created since Böÿe’s map was completed, primarily in modern-day West Virginia. Per the title the map also gives a great deal of attention to “railroads, rivers, canals & all other internal improvements”, with distinct line forms for railroads “completed”, “in progress”, and “proposed”; canals; and “plank roads”, “roads”, and “small roads”. The map’s particular emphasis on railroads is underscored by the extensive key at left, which lists 25 railroads and the lengths of their routes.

The map gains much decorative impact from the strong wash color; the inset “View of Capitol Square, Richmond VA” centered on the recently-completed Washington Monument; and the ornate foliated border. An example at the University of Virginia, presumably a later state, lacks this border but has new symbols added to the “References” at left, extensions to the Hillsboro & Cincinnati Railroad out of Jackson.

Ludwig von Bucholtz and the updating of the Böye map
The second quarter of the 19^th century was a time of rapid change for Virginia, due not least to the impact of the railroad boom on the state. As a result Böÿe’s 1827 map was soon out-of-date, but it was only in 1849 that the General Assembly authorized the Board of Works to update it. The Board first employed Claudius Crozet (1789-1864), a French engineer and artillery officer, who had emigrated to the United States and had held a post at West Point.[1] However, Crozet stepped back and in 1852 was replaced by German immigrant Ludwig von Bucholtz. Little is known of Bucholtz, beyond his role in editing the two Böÿe maps and authorship of a popular military manual, Bucholtz’s Infantry camp duty, field, fortification and coast defences (1860). An advertisement for the manual in the Richmond Dispatch describes him as “Captain Bucholtz, of this city, a gentleman who has seen service on the continent of Europe and who is an accomplished officer.” (Oct. 23, 1860, p. 2)

Bucholtz’ effort to update Böÿe’s map was handicapped by the parsimony of the General Assembly: Rather than sponsoring a completely new map, they insisted that the original printing plates be re-used and the additions and corrections be added to them. Frustration was such that “Francis H. Smith, Superintendent of Virginia Military Institute, wrote that the “bill appropriating $8000 under the plan of Mr. Buckholtz might as well direct so much money to be thrown into the James River.”” (Wooldridge, “The Bucholtz—Ludwig Map of Virginia and Its Successors, 1858–1868”, p. 26)

However, “The knowledge Bucholtz gained on the revision project enabled him to produce several other state maps in the late 1850s… all of them geographically superior [to the Böÿe-Bucholtz map] because they were not superimposed upon incorrect copperplates.” (E. M. Sanchez-Saavedra, A Description of the Country, Virginia’s Cartographers and Their Maps 1607−1881, p. 68, quoted in Wooldridge, p. 26) The map offered here, published in Richmond in 1858, is one of those offshoots. The publishers advertised their plan for the map thus:

“New Map of Virginia. Messrs. RITCHIE & DUNNAVANT are about to publish a new Map of Virginia, brought down to the present time, with all the new counties, towns, roads and railroads. Its size is two feet four inches, by three foot three. On rollers, suited for parlors or halls, the price is $3. In cases, for the pocket, $1.50. As very competent artists are employed upon the work, we look for a very good and useful map from their hands. It will be ready for delivery in a few days” (Richmond Daily Dispatch, April 17, 1858, vol. XIII, no. 91, page 2).

As described by Wooldridge’s 2007 Portolan article on the subject, the lithographic stone for the map was modified and reused at least three times in the 1860s, for later issues associated with West & Johnston, Matthew Fontaine Maury, and the Virginia Military Institute.

References
Phillips, List of Maps of America, p. 988. Phillips, Virginia Cartography, p. 71. Wooldridge, “The Bucholtz—Ludwig Map of Virginia and Its Successors, 1858–1868”, in The Portolan, no. 68 (Spring 2007), pp. 26-39, map #1. OCLC # 78025856 et al, giving perhaps 10 or 11 institutional holdings as of May 2026. Not in Wooldridge, Mapping Virginia.