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Informing The American Public on the Franco-Prussian War
Rare separately published American map illustrating the progress of the War in Europe in 1870.
This remarkable composite was apparently a joint publication by the Colton firm in New York and Rufus Blanchard in Chicago.
The map was issued during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871. This conflict was a pivotal moment in European history that led to the unification of Germany under Prussian leadership.
The war began following tensions between the Second French Empire, led by Napoleon III, and the Kingdom of Prussia. The immediate cause was the Ems Dispatch incident, which escalated diplomatic tensions and led to France declaring war on Prussia. The conflict quickly involved other German states that were allied with Prussia, and the comprehensive defeat of France resulted in the collapse of the Second French Empire and the proclamation of the German Empire in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles, a profound humiliation for France.
Rarity
The map is extremely rare. This is the first tine we have seen this map.
G. W. & C. B. Colton was a prominent family firm of mapmakers who were leaders in the American map trade in the nineteenth century. The business was founded by Joseph Hutchins Colton (1800-1893) who bought copyrights to existing maps and oversaw their production. By the 1850s, their output had expanded to include original maps, guidebooks, atlases, and railroad maps. Joseph was succeeded by his sons, George Woolworth (1827-1901) and Charles B. Colton (1831-1916). The firm was renamed G. W. & C. B. Colton as a result. George is thought responsible for their best-known work, the General Atlas, originally published under that title in 1857. In 1898, the brothers merged their business and the firm became Colton, Ohman, & Co., which operated until 1901, when August R. Ohman took on the business alone and dropped the Colton name.
![Nova Europae Descriptio [Carte-a-figures]](https://storage.googleapis.com/raremaps/img/small/80435.jpg)
