One of the nicest rarities to come through our doors! This is an uber-rare Crams 1909 Railroad Map of Illinois. Started in 1867 as the firm of Blanchard and Cram, George F. Cram took full control of the company in 1869, before selling the firm in 1920. The firm was well-known for producing maps and atlases, and Cram had served as a cartographer for Ulysses S. Grant. While most maps of today known as Crams maps are smaller, paper maps, they also produced larger pull-down maps, like this one, like one would see in schools hanging above the blackboard. This map is about 5 feet by 3 feet, and is paper mounted on linen. It is in amazing, vibrant full color, and shows the routes of all railroads in Illinois for 1909. Also listed in the periphery of the map are names of all electric railroads, steam railroads, and steamship lines serving Illinois. Most amazing for this map is that it is the only one we have ever seen that remains attached to its original pull down dowel, and inside of its original wooden case! Two nationally known map dealers and appraisers were shocked to see the case, as they just do not exist! There are two condition issues with the map. One being that there is a fold in the map about six inches up from the bottom, and there is also a tear that goes from the pull down bar to this fold. There is some separation of the map from the pull down bar, but the two appraisers assured us that all of this is repairable. If you are an Illinois railroad enthusiast, you will not want to let this map pass you by!

used

60 x 36 x 4 in