ALVIN JEWETT JOHNSON
Compiled, Drawn and Engraved under the supervision of J. H. Colton and A. J. Johnson. Despite being advertised at steel engravings, the maps in the 1860 version of Johnson's Family Atlas were in fact hand colored stone lithographs.
Continent: North America
Country: United States
Lithograph, Hand Colored
Sheet Size 14 x 17.8 inches
Publisher: Johnson and Browning, Richmond
Alvin Jewett Johnson (1827-1884). Starting out at a door to door salesman for book subscriptions, he turned his attention to publishing maps, atlases and books early in his life. Moving to New York City in 1857, he began to support J.H. Colton in the publishing of his atlases. Eventually, Johnson began to publish his own Atlases, becoming a competator to Colton and S. Augustus Mitchell.
Joseph Hutchins Colton (July 5, 1800 - July 29, 1893), founded the American Mapmaking Company which was an leader in map publishing from 1831 to 1890. He moved to New York in 1830 and licensed the use of maps from established cartographers, employed some of the preeminent engravers of the time for the publication of atlases and maps of various formats.
From Johnson's New Illustrated Family Atlas, 1860. From Johnson's New Illustrated Family Atlas, 1860. Published from 1860 to 1887, these atlases are fascinating because they document the growth of the United States, showing the development of new states and the expansion of railroad lines.