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Cover
The covers are pressed cardboard, the same as hardback
covers today, and of dark color. An abbreviated title of
the atlas with author and publisher appears in lighter
type. In the case of J. A. Howden, who put out this atlas
of Warren County, the author and publisher were one. This
cover is in decent shape. |
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Title
Page Title pages could be quite ornate with
insets of scenes, or a picture of the author. This one is
the usual plainer type. The printing company would always
be listed. On this page, Beach Nichols is the author, A.
Pomeroy is the publisher, the maps and drawings were 'Eng'd'
by Worley and Bracher, and the atlas was printed by F.
Bourquin, all from Philadelphia. |
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Table
of Contents All atlases have a table of contents,
such as this one from the Jefferson County atlas. The
page numbers are usually not consecutive. Blank pages, i.e.
the verso of maps, were sometimes counted and sometimes
not counted. Page numbers could be missing because they
were set aside for maps or lithographs that were never
made. Because of this, it is sometimes difficult to tell
if an atlas is complete when the table of contents page
is missing. (Well, obviously it isn't complete, at least
one page is missing.) As if the page confusion wasn't
enough, a few atlases had loose maps inserted within them
after binding. Sometimes the name of the map, but no page
number, is on the table of contents. In some other cases,
there is no listing of the inserted map at all. These
loose maps are usually missing from existing atlas copies.
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History
Some atlases contain a short history of the county, such
as the sketch of Indiana County history presented here.
These histories were written by a local history buff or
by the atlas author. |
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Advertisements
Almost, but not quite, all atlases carry ads. The atlases
were financed by selling ad space and lithographs of
views to individuals and businesses. Here is an ad page
from the Clarion County Atlas. |
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A
United States Map Some, but not all, atlases have
a map of the United States. The same map was usually used
in all the author or publisher's atlases. This map, from
Caldwell's Clarion County atlas, appears in most of
Caldwell's atlases. For some mysterious reason, it
contains an inset of Newfoundland, of all places. |
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A
Miscellaneous Map A few atlases also have one or
two miscellaneous maps that have little to do with the
county. This railroad map appears in the atlas of Clarion
County. |
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A
State Map Almost all the atlases contain a state
map, only a few did not. The state map made by O. W. Gray
& Son of Philadelphia was used in many atlases, and
appears in this one of Westmoreland County. |
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A
County Map All of the atlases include a county
map, here is the one in the Crawford County atlas. This
county, located in the northwest, was surveyed in square
sections, as this map shows. |
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A
City Map Atlases from counties lucky enough to
contain a city usually have a large double page city map.
This map of Williamsport, in Lycoming County, is
surrounded by ads, not the usual practice. Williamsport,
of course, is where the Little League World Series is
held. |
