US Midwest | Rubini Antique Maps and Prints | Rubini Antique Maps and Prints

Cataloged Works in this Collection

A NEW MAP OF ARKANSAS with its CANALS ROADS & DISTANCES
Cartographer / Artist: Henry Schenck Tanner (H. S. Tanner)
Date: 1836
Medium: Engraving with original hand coloring
Dimensions: 15.8 x 17.3 inches
Location: Arkansas, United States
A detailed early map of Arkansas published around the time of its statehood in 1836, featuring county divisions, steamboat routes, proposed rail and canal lines, and distance tables.
ARKANSAS.
Cartographer / Artist: Thomas Gamaliel Bradford / George Washington Boynton (engraver)
Date: 1838
Medium: Engraving with original hand color
Dimensions: 11.5 x 14.5 inches
Location: Arkansas, United States
Published shortly after Arkansas achieved statehood in 1836, this early map by T.G. Bradford delineates early county boundaries, river networks, settlements, and adjacent Indian Territory in delicate hand coloring.
COLTON'S RAILROAD & TOWNSHIP MAP OF THE STATE OF OHIO
Cartographer / Artist: J.H. Colton (Publisher), George W. Colton (Draughtsman), J.M. Atwood (Engraver)
Date: 1853
Medium: Map
Dimensions: 28.7 x 24.6 inches
Location: Ohio, United States
Published in 1853 by J.H. Colton, this detailed map illustrates Ohio's early county and township boundaries alongside its burgeoning railroad and canal networks, accented by a decorative grapevine border and an architectural engraving of the Ohio State Capitol building.
OHIO
Cartographer / Artist: Thomas Gamaliel Bradford
Date: 1835
Medium: Map
Dimensions: 15.4 x 19.6 inches
Location: Ohio, United States
An authentic 1835 map of Ohio by Thomas Gamaliel Bradford showing early county boundaries, major towns, rivers, and transportation routes during the canal era.
New Rail Road Map of Ohio
Cartographer / Artist: H. G. Howland (Drawn by); R. Sutton (Compiled & Published by)
Date: 1880
Medium: Map
Dimensions: 25.7 x 19.7 inches
Location: Ohio, United States
Published in 1880 for Railroad Commissioner Gen. J. S. Robinson, this finely detailed transportation map depicts Ohio's late 19th-century railway lines, canal networks, and county divisions alongside an expressive steam train vignette.
Mississippi River - Sheet No. 2 (25 to 41 miles above Cairo)
Cartographer / Artist: A fascinating hydrographic chart documenting the complex sandbars, chutes, and channels around Powers Island during the later stages of the Civil War.
Date: 1865
Medium: Map
Dimensions: 📐 16.2 × 23.9 in / 41.1 × 60.7 cm
Location: Cairo, Illinois, United States
A fascinating hydrographic chart documenting the complex sandbars, chutes, and channels around Powers Island during the later stages of the Civil War.
Mississippi River - Sheet No. 5 (78 to 96 miles above Cairo)
Cartographer / Artist: A stark, beautifully rendered survey highlighting the precipitous geography along the river banks, including Devil's Backbone and Fountain Bluffs.
Date: 1865
Medium: Map
Dimensions: 📐 17.0 × 25.6 in / 43.2 × 65.0 cm
Location: Grand Tower, Illinois, United States
A stark, beautifully rendered survey highlighting the precipitous geography along the river banks, including Devil's Backbone and Fountain Bluffs.
Atlas of the World: [Michigan] with Inset of the Northern Portion of Michigan
Cartographer / Artist: Rand, McNally & Co.
Date: c. 1895
Medium: Color cerograph (wax engraving) on paper
Dimensions: 11.1 × 14.0 inches
Location: Michigan, United States
This late nineteenth-century atlas map produced by Rand, McNally & Company provides an exceptionally detailed cartographic overview of the state of Michigan during a period of rapid industrial and infrastructural expansion. The main map focuses on the Lower Peninsula, delineating counties with delicate pastel wash outlines and depicting the dense, emerging network of late-Victorian railroads, shipping routes, township grids, and settlements across Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake St. Clair, and Lake Erie. An extensive inset across the top registers the 'Northern Portion of Michigan' (the Upper Peninsula), detailing the rugged shoreline of Lake Superior, Keweenaw Peninsula, Isle Royale, and the crucial rail and mining corridors through Marquette, Houghton, and Iron Mountain. Flanking the map are comprehensive statistical tables and indexes that list total land area, 1890 census demographic figures (including native, foreign, African, and Indian population counts), county locator coordinates, and population figures for major cities and towns of the era.
North America Sheet V: The North West and Michigan Territories
Cartographer / Artist: Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge (SDUK) / Baldwin & Cradock / J. & C. Walker
Date: 1833
Medium: Engraving with original outline hand color
Dimensions: 16.4 × 13.2 inches
Location: Upper Midwest, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Illinois, United States
Published under the superintendence of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge (SDUK) by Baldwin & Cradock in 1833, this finely detailed map captures the Upper Midwest during a critical transitional era prior to Michigan and Wisconsin statehood. The geographic focus encompasses Lake Michigan, the eastern Upper Peninsula, the southern portion of the Michigan Territory, the northern reaches of Illinois, and the expansive unorganized 'North West Territory' encompassing modern-day Wisconsin. Notable frontier features include Fort Dearborn (adjacent to Chicago), Fort Howard at Green Bay, Prairie du Chien, Galena, and numerous early Native American settlements and treaties, notably demarcating the Indian Boundary of 1829. The visual composition reflects the exceptionally high standards of precision engraving executed by J. & C. Walker, characterized by clean linear hydrography, hachured topography along river bluffs, and delicate hand-colored territorial boundaries. Significant historical details of economic interest include the extensive lead mining regions near Dubuque and Galena, Indian villages, trading posts, and early survey tracks across the developing interior of the Old Northwest.
North America Sheet V: The North West and Michigan Territories
Cartographer / Artist: Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge (SDUK) / Baldwin & Cradock / J. & C. Walker
Date: 1833
Medium: Engraving with original hand-colored outlines
Dimensions: 15.2 × 14.8 inches
Location: Upper Midwest, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Illinois, United States
This finely detailed early 19th-century map illustrates the Upper Midwest during a dynamic era of territorial organization and American westward expansion. Published under the superintendence of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge (SDUK), the map encompasses Lake Michigan, the eastern portion of the 'North West Territory' (present-day Wisconsin and upper Michigan), the Lower Peninsula of Michigan Territory, and northern Illinois including the nascent settlement at Fort Dearborn (Chicago). Cartographically, the sheet provides intricate hydrography, early county lines in southern Michigan, Indian boundary lines (such as the 1829 treaty border), military outposts like Fort Howard and Fort Winnebago, lead mining regions around Galena and Mineral Point, and Native American village sites. The topography captures river networks, portages, and early surveyed township grids in southern Michigan and around Green Bay. Engraved by J. & C. Walker and printed by Russell Penge for Baldwin & Cradock in London, this map reflects SDUK's hallmark precision and commitment to disseminating up-to-date geographical information during a period when the territorial borders of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Illinois were rapidly evolving.
Colton's Map of the State of Michigan
Cartographer / Artist: G.W. & C.B. Colton & Co.
Date: 1874
Medium: Hand-colored lithographed map
Dimensions: 15.8 × 26.7 inches
Location: Michigan, United States
An intricate late nineteenth-century county map of the state of Michigan published by the prominent American cartographic firm G.W. & C.B. Colton & Co. The map depicts the Lower Peninsula in great detail alongside the eastern portion of the Upper Peninsula, the Straits of Mackinac, and adjacent waters of Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, and Lake Superior. Individual counties are distinguished by delicate original hand coloring in pastel shades of pink, yellow, green, and blue, overlaid with township survey grids, county seats, post offices, and settlements. The map provides vital historical documentation of Michigan's rapidly expanding transportation infrastructure following the American Civil War. Completed and projected rail lines crisscross the southern interior, extending northward into the lumber and mining corridors. Marginal notation includes an 'Explanations' key detailing cartographic symbols, double-longitude scales referenced from both Washington, D.C., and Greenwich, and distance checks along rail routes indicating miles between stations.
Gray's Atlas: New Railroad Map of Michigan
Cartographer / Artist: Ormando Willis Gray & Son
Date: 1873
Medium: Lithograph with original hand coloring
Dimensions: 17.2 × 26.9 inches
Location: Michigan, United States
Published in 1873 by O.W. Gray & Son for their celebrated national atlas, this detailed map captures Michigan during an era of rapid industrial and infrastructural expansion. The map comprehensively delineates the state's growing rail network in the post-Civil War period, emphasizing the pivotal connections linking Detroit, Grand Rapids, Lansing, and various timber and mining ports along Lakes Michigan, Huron, and Superior. Every county across the Lower Peninsula and southern reaches of the Upper Peninsula is individually hand-colored with distinct pastel washes, overlaid with the Public Land Survey System township and range grid. An inset at the upper right titled 'Part of Northern Michigan' details the mineral-rich western Upper Peninsula, highlighting Ontonagon, Houghton, and Keweenaw counties during the height of the copper and iron mining boom. Nautical distances across Lake Michigan connecting ports in Wisconsin and Illinois are clearly marked alongside prominent shoreline features, islands, and straits.
Rand, McNally & Co.'s Northern Michigan and Lake Superior
Cartographer / Artist: Rand, McNally & Co.
Date: c. 1885
Medium: Cerograph (wax engraving) with printed color
Dimensions: 14.6 × 11.15 inches
Location: Upper Peninsula, Michigan, Lake Superior, United States
This late nineteenth-century atlas map by Rand, McNally & Co. details the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and the entirety of Lake Superior, extending north to Ontario, Canada, and south to the northern tip of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. The map meticulously records the township and range survey grid across the Upper Peninsula, delineating counties such as Ontonagon, Baraga, Marquette, Schoolcraft, Delta, Menominee, and Mackinac. The map highlights the booming industrial and mining landscape of the region following the post-Civil War resource rush, charting the Copper Country of the Keweenaw Peninsula alongside the iron ranges of Marquette and Menominee. Rail lines, mining settlements, lighthouses, harbor points, and navigational waterways are comprehensively indexed, reflecting the vital shipping networks connecting the Great Lakes to Midwestern industrial centers.
State Tax Land Deed Issued by Auditor General John Swegles for Land in Ionia County, Michigan
Cartographer / Artist: George W. Peck, Printer to the State / State of Michigan
Date: 1854
Medium: Letterpress printed legal document on blue wove paper with manuscript ink completions and signatures
Dimensions: 16.0 × 12.0 inches
Location: Ionia County, Michigan, United States
This official mid-19th-century State Tax Land Deed, dated January 23, 1854, records the sale and transfer of land in Ionia County, Michigan, from the State of Michigan to William F. Jenison of Eagle, Michigan. Authorized by Auditor General John Swegles, the indenture conveys title to real estate previously bid off to the state for delinquent taxes assessed in the tax year 1848. The real property is formally defined using the Public Land Survey System (PLSS) as the 'North East fraction of North East Quarter of Section Five in Town Five North of Range Five West,' totaling approximately 11.83 acres. The bottom register features financial accounting acknowledgments from the State Treasurer's Office in Lansing, along with formal attestation by an Ingham County Notary Public. Printed by George W. Peck, official printer to the state, the broadside deed exhibits exemplary mid-19th-century American administrative typography. It combines elaborate blackletter and display serif headings with standard letterpress body text, accompanied by original iron-gall manuscript entries, official signatures, and a printed decorative seal mark.
MISSOURI
Cartographer / Artist: J. H. Colton & Co.
Date: 1855
Medium: Hand-colored steel engraving
Dimensions: 15.5 x 18.5 inches
Location: Missouri, United States
A detailed 1855 mid-19th century map of Missouri by J. H. Colton showing county divisions, early railway lines, and an inset map of St. Louis, framed within Colton's signature grapevine border.