Strip map of the Mississippi River and its fortifications, including charming vignettes of New Orleans, Vicksburg, Memphis and St. Louis. This map was surveyed and published during the American Civil War and displays a wide range of locales such as towns, plantations, railroads, churches and ports.

This scarce, separately published map of the Mississippi valley covers the Mississippi River from St. Louis to the Gulf of Mexico in four parallel panels following on from one another, each one being 60 x 16 cm. The northernmost point of the map is in the top-left corner and each strip then travels southwards to the mouth of the river in the bottom-right corner.

The map was published by Charles Magnus, perhaps the most prolific publisher of maps, aerial views, and other graphic materials related to the Civil War. The present work is notable for the inclusion of a great number of forts and other sites related to the war, undoubtedly inspiring the “And its Fortifications" in bold print at the end of the maps title. This map was likely intended to appeal to those interested in the Mississippi theatre of war, as control of the Mississippi River was important for military dominance of the American Midwest during the Civil War. Some say that Magnus' map is probably the best commercially produced map of the Mississippi Valley from that time.

By the time this map was published, the Mississippi (except for Vicksburg and Port Hudson) was under Union control. Magnus, through various political connections, became one of the few illustrators with unrestricted access to Union military camps, which also accounts in large part for his dominance of the market in Civil War graphic materials. Therefore, it's likely that the fine-grained detail of this work resulted from his access to information gathered by Union personnel. After the war, Magnus continued a prosperous business in both the creation and selling of panoramic city views, song sheets, and patriotic envelopes. With over 1,000 known works to his credit, Magnus was one of the most prolific American printers of broadsides and other lithographs.

The map is drawn on a scale of 1:450,000 and includes two tables: one calculates the distances navigable by steam on Mississippi River and its principal branches, and the other calculates the distances to various points on the Mississippi from St. Louis to New Orleans. The map is printed in a monochromatic blue with additional hand colour added, very fitting for a map of one of the world's great rivers.

Original colour. Backed on later paper. Some loss along the upper margin, professionally replaced. [USA9625]