Antique Maps

I recently came across a collection of antique maps and couldn't resist 

bringing some of them home.

There was quite a large collection that included locations all over the United States 

but I pulled out as many Massachusetts towns as I could find, especially cities

and villages along the ocean.

I would assume each map was a page in a large book but each one

has been cut into perfect rectangles and mounted on cotton so they can

fold into a little booklet.  Many of them are signed "F.H. Silsbee, Lawrence, Mass."

and a few are dated 1899.  I googled F.H. Silsbee and found he was a graduate

of MIT and a member of the New England Cotton Manufacturer's Association

You can see faintly on the back of the Falmouth, Mass. map the text on the back

that reads "Desription of Topographic Map of the United States."

Let me show you a few.

Beverly and Salem, Mass.

Plymouth, Mass.

Yarmouth, Mass.

And I love that some of the maps

of seaside towns are mainly open water leaving an irregular edge

that make abstract shapes.

Provincetown, Mass.

Truro and Wellfleet, Mass.

The maps have a very soft red, white, blue and black color palette

that would fit very easily in almost room.

Fall River, Mass.

(Of Lizzie Bordon fame.)

Since each map has a grid of nine panes, I think they would look great framed 

and hung in a grid of nine.

A project that would certainly drive me crazy

getting hung perfectly.

* BY REQUEST *

For present and former Salem residents, historians, witches and warlocks, I'm adding an enlarged image of the Salem map.  It's too bad there's not more detail but I'm sure some of you (Donna Seger) will see some things that have changed.

(It seems it won't enlarge when you click so I'm making it as large as possible.)