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Description:This is an extraordinary piece of antique early marketing promotion drawn by one of Americas famous Civil War illustrators Alfred Waud.This very long (12ft) folding lithograph map, a panoramic birds eye view of the St Lawrence River from Niagara Falls to the city of Quebec was drawn by Alfred Waud and published in c1866.
General Definitions:Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stablePaper color : - off whiteAge of map color: -Colors used: -General color appearance: -Paper size: - 144in x 7 1/2in (365cm x 190mm)Plate size: - 144in x 7 1/2in (365cm x 190mm)Margins: - N/A
Imperfections:Margins: - Light age toningPlate area: - Folds as issued, light age toningVerso: - Light age toning
Background: This is a rare piece and lucky to have survived intact and in such good condition. The map begins at Niagara falls to lake Ontario noting all towns and settlements, including Native Americans, carrying on Prescott, many other smaller towns. Illustrations of Native Americans, trappers, ships, wrecks and much more ending up in the city of Quebec adorn the map
Waud, Alfred 1828 - 1891Waud was an American artist and illustrator, born in London, England. He is most notable for the sketches he made as an artist correspondent during the American Civil War.The period during the American Civil War was a time when all images in a publication had to be hand drawn and engraved by skilled artists. Photography existed but there was no way to transfer a photograph to a printing plate since this was well before the advent of the halftone process for printing photographs. Photographic equipment was too cumbersome and exposure times were too slow to be used on the battlefield. An artist such as Waud would do detailed sketches in the field, which were then rushed by courier back to the main office of the newspaper they were working for. There a staff of engravers would use the sketches to create engravings on blocks of boxwood. Since the blocks were about 4 inches across they would have to be composited together to make one large illustration. The wood engraving was then copied via the electrotype process which produced a metal printing plate for publication.In 1860, Alfred Waud became an illustrator or special artist (a full-time paid staff artist) for the New York Illustrated News. In April 1861, the newspaper assigned Waud to cover the Army of the Potomac, Virginias main Union army. He first illustrated General Winfield Scott in Washington, D.C., and then entered the field to render the First Battle of Bull Run in July. Waud followed a Union expedition to Cape Hatteras, North Carolina the next month and witnessed the Battle of Hatteras Inlet Batteries. That autumn, he sketched army activity in the Tidewater region of Virginia. Waud joined Harpers Weekly toward the end of 1861, continuing to cover the war. In 1864 Alfreds brother, William Waud (who up to that time had been working with Frank Leslies Illustrated Newspaper), joined Alfred on the staff of Harpers and they worked together during the Petersburg Campaign.Alfred Waud attended every battle of the Army of the Potomac between the First Battle of Bull Run in 1861 and the Siege of Petersburg in 1865. Alfred was one of only two artists present at the Battle of Gettysburg. His depiction of Picketts Charge is thought to be the only visual account by an eyewitness.Waud continued to be a prolific illustrator, doing numerous illustrations for Harpers Weekly and other prominent publications, achieving his greatest fame in his post-War work.Waud died in 1891 in Marietta, Georgia, while touring battlefields of the South.