“The first topographic map of the White Mountains”
George P. Bond / Benjamin Champney / O. Wallis (lithographer), [front board:] A MAP, WITH VIEWS OF THE WHITE MOUNTAINS [map:] A MAP OF THE WHITE MOUNTAINS OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [Cambridge: John Bartlett,] 1853.
Lithographic map (16 ½”h x 15 ¼”w) and separate sheet with 5 lithographic views (9 5/8”h x 15 5/8”w), both uncolored. Both folded and tipped in to cloth-covered boards with printed pastedowns and ornaments stamped in blind and title in gilt. Light foxing and toning to both sheets, map with tiny separation at one intersection and very short tear at point of binding. Sheet of views trimmed close to titles at lower edge. Binding a bit faded. Withal, about very good.
$850.00
In stock
A landmark 1853 map of the High Peaks of New Hampshire’s White Mountains, including detail of both the Presidential and Franconia Ranges never before shown on a printed map.
Bond’s map is based on surveys conducted by him in the Fall of 1852. The map depicts elevations by hachuring, as well as waterways, roads, some of the area’s numerous guest houses, and landmarks such as the Willey House in Crawford Notch, where seven members of the Willey Family died in an 1826 landslide. In a first for a White Mountains map, dozens of individual peaks are named–with those of Mounts Adams and Jefferson reversed–with their elevations rounded to nearest hundred feet (At least some of these elevations are strikingly accurate: Mount Washington is for example given as 6300 feet high, an overstatement of just 12 feet.)
“The names of the individual peaks of the Presidential Range appear for the first time on any map, as well as the names Cannon Mt., Twin Mts., Carrigain, Tremont, and Giant’s Stairs”. (Bent, p. 84)
“This modesty in the precision of the elevation determinations is unique in the history of White Mountain cartography. Many of these elevations, determined by theodolite and reasonably accurate when compared with modern values, were used by subsequent White Mountain cartographers.” (Apt, p. 9)
A separate sheet bears five lithographic vignettes based on paintings by Benjamin Champney (1817-1900), depicting Mts. Washington, Jefferson and Adams, as well as Echo Lake, Crystal Falls, and Glen Ellis Falls.
The map was reissued, printed on thin paper, in some copies of Benjamin Willey’s Incidents in White Mountain History (1856).
George Phillips Bond (1825–1865)
The son of William Cranch Bond, first Director of the Harvard College Observatory, Bond was immersed in astronomy from a young age and eventually succeeded his father as Director in 1859. His work helped elevate Harvard to international prominence in the field.
Among Bond’s most enduring contributions was his application of photography to celestial observation. In the early 1850s, he became one of the first astronomers to successfully photograph stars and other astronomical phenomena, including the Moon and the double star Mizar. He also made extensive observations of Saturn, the Orion Nebula, and comets, and was one of the first to propose that the spiral structure seen in some nebulae might be galactic in nature.
Bond also had a strong interest in terrestrial observation and meteorology. This interest took him into the White Mountains of New Hampshire, where, in the early 1850s, he undertook several expeditions to measure atmospheric conditions, particularly at high altitudes. His work included early barometric and photographic observations from Mount Washington, where he used instruments to study weather patterns, light phenomena, and the clarity of the atmosphere for astronomical purposes. These expeditions reflected Bond’s broader ambition to integrate terrestrial and astronomical science, recognizing the importance of atmospheric clarity in observational astronomy.
Benjamin Champney (1817-1900)
Champney was a prominent American landscape painter closely associated with the White Mountain School, whose members sought to capture the scenery of the region in the mid-19th century. Born in New Ipswich, New Hampshire, Champney trained in Boston and later studied in Paris, where he was influenced by the French landscape tradition and the Barbizon School. Upon his return to the United States in the early 1850s, he made the White Mountains his home and settled in North Conway, which became a thriving summer art colony in large part due to his influence.
Champney’s paintings are marked by a romantic yet precise rendering of nature, often depicting the region’s soaring peaks, wooded valleys, and tranquil rivers in the clear light of early morning or late afternoon. His most iconic works feature Mount Washington, the Saco River, and the surrounding landscape, painted with a sense of grandeur and reverence that reflected both the American Transcendentalist spirit and the rising popularity of the White Mountains as a tourist destination.
References
Apt, Maps of the White Mountains of New Hampshire, #14. Bent, Bibliography of the White Mountains, p. 84. Cobb, New Hampshire Maps to 1900, #206. Not in Phillips, A List of Maps of America.
Inventory ID:
“The first topographic map of the White Mountains”
George P. Bond / Benjamin Champney / O. Wallis (lithographer), [front board:] A MAP, WITH VIEWS OF THE WHITE MOUNTAINS [map:] A MAP OF THE WHITE MOUNTAINS OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. [Cambridge: John Bartlett,] 1853.
$850.00
In stock
Lithographic map (16 ½”h x 15 ¼”w) and separate sheet with 5 lithographic views (9 5/8”h x 15 5/8”w), both uncolored. Both folded and tipped in to cloth-covered boards with printed pastedowns and ornaments stamped in blind and title in gilt. Light foxing and toning to both sheets, map with tiny separation at one intersection and very short tear at point of binding. Sheet of views trimmed close to titles at lower edge. Binding a bit faded. Withal, about very good.
A landmark 1853 map of the High Peaks of New Hampshire’s White Mountains, including detail of both the Presidential and Franconia Ranges never before shown on a printed map.
Bond’s map is based on surveys conducted by him in the Fall of 1852. The map depicts elevations by hachuring, as well as waterways, roads, some of the area’s numerous guest houses, and landmarks such as the Willey House in Crawford Notch, where seven members of the Willey Family died in an 1826 landslide. In a first for a White Mountains map, dozens of individual peaks are named–with those of Mounts Adams and Jefferson reversed–with their elevations rounded to nearest hundred feet (At least some of these elevations are strikingly accurate: Mount Washington is for example given as 6300 feet high, an overstatement of just 12 feet.)
“The names of the individual peaks of the Presidential Range appear for the first time on any map, as well as the names Cannon Mt., Twin Mts., Carrigain, Tremont, and Giant’s Stairs”. (Bent, p. 84)
“This modesty in the precision of the elevation determinations is unique in the history of White Mountain cartography. Many of these elevations, determined by theodolite and reasonably accurate when compared with modern values, were used by subsequent White Mountain cartographers.” (Apt, p. 9)
A separate sheet bears five lithographic vignettes based on paintings by Benjamin Champney (1817-1900), depicting Mts. Washington, Jefferson and Adams, as well as Echo Lake, Crystal Falls, and Glen Ellis Falls.
The map was reissued, printed on thin paper, in some copies of Benjamin Willey’s Incidents in White Mountain History (1856).
George Phillips Bond (1825–1865)
The son of William Cranch Bond, first Director of the Harvard College Observatory, Bond was immersed in astronomy from a young age and eventually succeeded his father as Director in 1859. His work helped elevate Harvard to international prominence in the field.
Among Bond’s most enduring contributions was his application of photography to celestial observation. In the early 1850s, he became one of the first astronomers to successfully photograph stars and other astronomical phenomena, including the Moon and the double star Mizar. He also made extensive observations of Saturn, the Orion Nebula, and comets, and was one of the first to propose that the spiral structure seen in some nebulae might be galactic in nature.
Bond also had a strong interest in terrestrial observation and meteorology. This interest took him into the White Mountains of New Hampshire, where, in the early 1850s, he undertook several expeditions to measure atmospheric conditions, particularly at high altitudes. His work included early barometric and photographic observations from Mount Washington, where he used instruments to study weather patterns, light phenomena, and the clarity of the atmosphere for astronomical purposes. These expeditions reflected Bond’s broader ambition to integrate terrestrial and astronomical science, recognizing the importance of atmospheric clarity in observational astronomy.
Benjamin Champney (1817-1900)
Champney was a prominent American landscape painter closely associated with the White Mountain School, whose members sought to capture the scenery of the region in the mid-19th century. Born in New Ipswich, New Hampshire, Champney trained in Boston and later studied in Paris, where he was influenced by the French landscape tradition and the Barbizon School. Upon his return to the United States in the early 1850s, he made the White Mountains his home and settled in North Conway, which became a thriving summer art colony in large part due to his influence.
Champney’s paintings are marked by a romantic yet precise rendering of nature, often depicting the region’s soaring peaks, wooded valleys, and tranquil rivers in the clear light of early morning or late afternoon. His most iconic works feature Mount Washington, the Saco River, and the surrounding landscape, painted with a sense of grandeur and reverence that reflected both the American Transcendentalist spirit and the rising popularity of the White Mountains as a tourist destination.
References
Apt, Maps of the White Mountains of New Hampshire, #14. Bent, Bibliography of the White Mountains, p. 84. Cobb, New Hampshire Maps to 1900, #206. Not in Phillips, A List of Maps of America.
Additional information
| year published | 1853 |
|---|
