Panorama of the Mississippi Valley and its Fortifications

New York: Charles Magnus, 1863. 1st Edition 1st Printing. No Binding. Very Good+/No Jacket. An extremely scarce map titled "Panorama of the Mississippi Valley and its Fortifications", which illustrates the theater of war that was the Mississippi River during the American Civil War. Published in New York in 1863 by Charles Magnus. Nicely matted and well framed. This broadside map shows the cities, towns, stores, plantations, mills, academies, etc. along the Mississippi River from St. Louis southward through Memphis, continuing through Vicksburg, and ending at the Gulf of Mexico. Each panel is embellished with a vignette of the important city of that area. Two insets list distances: "various points on the Mississippi, from St Louis to New Orleans", and "Distances navigable by steam on Mississippi River and principal its branches". The granularity of detail in this map can be seen in the photograph of the section around Natchez. From north to south along the course of the river are: Vicksburg & Steveport R.R., Vicksburg Southern Miss. R.R., Turners Woodyard, Hard Times Landing, Gen. Zach. Taylors old Farm, Natchez, Dead Man's Bar, and Fort Adams. The importance and scarcity of this map is reflected in the fact that it is held by only 12 institutions worldwide, according to OCLC. These include the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum, the Library of Congress, Stanford University, Yale University, Harvard University, six other universities, and one city library. Includes the original bill of sale from Martayan Lan, an important New York City dealer in rare books & maps. Their description of this map states - "This scarce, separately published work divides the Mississippi River from St. Louis to the delta into four strip maps that are enhanced with views of the cities of New Orleans, Vicksburg, Memphis and St. Louis. Magnus was perhaps the most prolific publisher of maps, views and other graphic materials relating to the Civil War, and the present work is notable for the inclusion of the great number of forts and other locations relating to the war. Other detail includes towns both small and large, plantations, country markets and trading posts, schools and colleges, churches, industrial sites, landmarks, roads and railroads. The amount of highly local detail is remarkable. By the time this map was published in 1863, the Mississippi was under Union control except for Vicksburg and Port Hudson. Therefore, it is conceivable that the fine-grained detail of this work could have been the result of access to information gathered from Union personnel. In fact, 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." SHIPPING: Extra, depending on size, weight, and your destination. CONDITION: Very good+. There are two very small areas of stain, otherwise perfect. Not examined outside of frame. DIMENSIONS: Frame is 33" wide by 31.5" high. Map sight is 24.75" wide by 23.25" high. WEIGHT: 12.6 pounds