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"The Rarest and Most Desirable Sheet" -- John Bachman's Panorama of Texas & Western Louisiana
Striking combination map and view of Texas, comprising the southwestern portion of the Confederacy.
This detailed and sought-after sheet is part of Bachmann's expansive six-sheet birds-eye view from 1861, focusing on Texas's coast. Spanning from Littel Constance Bay in Louisiana to the Rio Grande, it extends the panoramic depiction begun in the adjacent sheet covering Louisiana through parts of Florida. Renowned for its portrayal of Texas mid-19th century, Bachmann meticulously pinpoints key cities, rivers, roads, and harbors, despite some inaccuracies, like the misplacement of "Austin City" on the Guadalupe rather than the Colorado River. Bachmann's work, noted by Ron Tyler for its potential military utility, also hints at Union naval activities in the Gulf of Mexico during the Civil War.
The perspective chosen by Bachmann—a bird’s eye view—provides a distinctive, if geographically impossible, standpoint, rendering the contours of the landscape rather than detailed surface features. This method, while not as precise as orthographic mapping, emphasizes landform over topographic details, offering a strategic overview rather than a navigational tool. As noted in David Rumsey's "Cartographica Extraordinaire," Bachmann's work, delivered in three-color lithography, was available as individual maps and served to visualize the potential areas of conflict at the outbreak of the Civil War.
'At the outset of the Civil War, John Bachmann, of New York City, one of the finest American artists and lithographers specializing in bird's-eye views, began producing a series of panoramas of likely theaters of War' (Stephenson & McKee Virginia in Maps p.239). This view, taken from the apparent vantage point some miles up in the outer atmosphere, was designed to serve as an individual stand-alone image (as here), but also to join with several other views by Bachmann which together form one continuous panorama of the Confederacy.
John Bachmann was one of America's leading viewmakers, having been responsible for some of the finest New York City views. This innovative cross between view and map appears to have been his own invention, and it gives an intriguing and different perspective on the conflict.
Rarity
The view is very rare on the market.
This is the first example we have offered for sale (1992-2024).
