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Introduction:

Blueprint and blue line maps were among the most popular means for the swift printing of maps for which there would be a limited demand. A blueprint or blue line map could be made and/or revised much more quickly than a lithograph, cerograph, or other printing method, and at a much lower cost.

This method of printing was invented in 1842 by John Herschel, a chemist, astronomer, and photographer. A cyanotype process, one starts by drawing on semi-transparent paper, weighted down by a top sheet of paper. The paper would be coated with a photosensitive chemical mixture of potassium ferricyanogen and ferric ammonium citrate. The paper would then be exposed to light, wherein the exposed portions turned blue and the drawn lines, protected from exposure, would remain white.

The cyanotype printing process was an improvement on the expensive and time-consuming method of hand-tracing original documents. The technique was particularly popular with architects; by the 1890s, a blueprint was one-tenth the cost of a hand-traced reproduction. It could also be copied more quickly.   

Blueprint and blue line maps began to appear as early as the 1850s and 1860s, but they really began to become the standard for mining and similar limited-purpose maps by the 1880s. The ability to create these maps quickly and at a low cost made them the standard for short-run prints, ideal for mapping mining regions in the West and for similar purposes.

The method still exists today, but in a very limited fashion. In the 1940s, diazo prints (whiteprints or bluelines) became more popular, as they were easier to read and faster to make. The blue lines on a white background of these prints are now what most people call blueprints.


Place/Date:
Seattle / 1895 circa
Size:
12.5 x 13 inches (including text)
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
101663
Place/Date:
Los Angeles / 1902
Size:
18.5 x 18.5 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
72828
Place/Date:
n.p. / 1929 circa
Size:
8 x 10.25 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
92559
Place/Date:
Nantucket / 1821 (but early 20th Century)
Size:
23 x 17.5 inches (including text)
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
94484
Place/Date:
San Diego / 1914
Size:
47 x 20.4 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
101377
Place/Date:
San Diego County / 1888
Size:
16 x 11 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
96316
Place/Date:
San Diego / 1915
Size:
24 x 10.5 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
96377

Archived

Place/Date:
Seattle / 1895 circa
Size:
9.3 x 9.5 inches (including text)
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
101967
Place/Date:
San Francisco / 1908
Size:
32 x 24 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
73833
Place/Date:
Atlanta / 1931
Size:
13.75 x 17.75 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
98239
Place/Date:
Pompano, FL / 1924
Size:
15.5 x 23 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
98674
Place/Date:
Whatcom, Washington Territory / 1886 circa
Size:
10.5 x 9.2 inches 2nd image: 10.25 x 13
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
88311
Place/Date:
n.p. / 1895 - 1896 (circa)
Size:
26.25 x 19.75 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
90865
Place/Date:
Fort Worth, TX / 1920 circa
Size:
52.75 x 51.25 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
96770