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Climatic map of California. Published by the Southern Pacific Company. 1888. Compiled by E. McD. Johnstone, S.P. Co. From map prepared under the direction of Brig. Gen. H.C. Wright, Chief of Eng’rs. U.S.A. Lith H.S. Crocker & Co. S.F. Cal. Entered…1887, by the Southern Pacific Company…Washington…
San Francisco: Southern Pacific Company, 1888. Lith. H. S. Crocker & Co. Chromolithograph, 30.8” x 9”, in green, yellow, brown, and orange. CONDITION: Very good, .75” and two 1.5” tears along old folds, light chipping along upper-right margin, light wear. Second edition of this map first published in 1887 by the Southern Pacific Railroad, showing by use of color California’s different climatic zones, and evidently intended to promote both travel and settlement in the region. The map extends from Mexico in the south to Oregon in the north, and from the Pacific Ocean in the west to Nevada in the east. The map key indicates the temperature ranges corresponding to the four colors defining the climatic zones (green, yellow, brown, and orange). Temperatures span from 30 degrees Fahrenheit to 72 degrees Fahrenheit. Shown are completed and projected lines of the Southern Pacific Railroad and other railroad companies (such as the North Coast Railroad, Vaca Valley & Clear Lake Railroad, and Visalia and Tulare Railroad). Numerous stops along these lines are identified. Other details represented include forts, bodies of water, islands, ports, towns and cities, landings, valleys, forests, bays, and more. Relief is shown by hachure. The index lists sixteen mountains and their elevations, including Mt. Shasta, Mt. Hamilton, Mt. Diablo, and Cathedral Peak. Above the map are two distances on the Southern Pacific between Yuma and Crescent City (828 miles), and from Yuma to the boundary line of Oregon (1013 miles). A compass rose appears in the waters off Los Angeles, and a scale appears at the bottom. This map was prepared under the direction of Brig. Gen. Horatio G. Wright (1820–1899), Chief of Engineers of the U.S. Another state of the 1888 edition of this map features text at the top appealing to travelers: “If You Intend To Travel Take The ‘Sunset Route’ Of The Southern Pacific Company.” After arriving in California in the 1850s, Henry S. Crocker founded a job printing company in Sacramento and in 1871 moved to San Francisco, where he entered the lithography business. After the company grew quickly, it suffered a fire in 1885 but was rebuilt shortly thereafter. Henry S. Crocker & Company produced labels, books, maps, book illustrations, trade cards, pamphlets and advertising posters. In 1899 it merged with Max Schmidt to form the Mutual Label and Lithographic Company. Crocker’s business continued to develop in the twentieth century, and in 1960 the company acquired the Strobridge Lithographing Company. REFERENCES: Last, Jay. The Color Explosion : Nineteenth-Century American Lithography (Santa Ana, CA, 2005), pp. 177, 273; Rumsey 0941 (a different state of this 1888 map).
Item #7998
Price: $650.00
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