THE ORIGINAL FULL SET OF THREE COPPER PLATES

Transcription

1 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. Topographic Branch. [UTAH SALT LAKE SHEET, U. S. Geological Survey, J[ohn]. W[esley]. Powell, Director.... Triangulation and Topography by the King and Powell Surveys. (1885)]. THE ORIGINAL FULL SET OF THREE COPPER PLATES ENGRAVED BY HAND FOR THE FIRST TOPOGRAPHIC MAP of the one degree quadrangle of Utah encompassing SALT LAKE CITY, PROVO and surrounding towns, mountains and lakes (within North and West). THREE HAND ENGRAVED COPPER ALLOY PLATES measuring 19½ X 16 inches (for the brown ink

2 printing plate showing topography, and the black ink printing plate showing legends and man made developments); and 20⅞ X 17 inches (for the blue ink printing plate showing water features). $12,000 In near fine, untouched condition, as received from the U. S. G. S. offices. Light tarnish to surfaces, more so to the topography (brown ink) plate which may also have a few light scratches or marks of some kind which appear to be superficial and amenable to conservation. No other damage or warping. No attempt has been made to clean or polish the plates, which still exhibit their grease pen identifier notations in black ink, and occasional other ink smudges. ʺMost of the plates are tarnished,ʺ explained a government flyer in ʺThe copper plates have the color of an old penny.... Most plates are stored horizontally in wooden cabinets (see Figure 4). The plates rest on ledges that prevent them from touching and hinder them from warping.ʺ (ʺEngravings of USGS Maps and Other illustrations Available for Transfer, Donation, or Sale,ʺ May 2015 [PDF], 3 4; Figure 4, ABOVE, showing a zinc plate.) Shown on the PRECEDING PAGE of this description is the U.S.G.S. retained file copy of the original printed ʺEdition of Dec. 1885ʺ (enlarge on the screen to see greater detail). That printed map is of course NOT INCLUDED HERE with the original plates from which it was generated, but it can be viewed online in high resolution HERE. HE SALT LAKE QUAD T RANGLE PLATES AND MAP were AMONG THE FIRST HUNDRED OR FEWER topo maps produced by the United States Geological Survey, ENGRAVED AND PRINTED DURING ITS FIRST YEAR OF REGULAR PRODUCTION out of thousands to chart the entire nation by the middle of the twentieth century. The maps on paper were produced by

3 an intermediary process: A master inked impression was transferred from the original copper plate to a lithograph stone from which the multiple issued maps were then printed. This process had to be done for each color involved (thus three times in all for the Salt Lake quadrangle one from each of the plates). One purpose of this second generation procedure was to preserve the precious originals which had been engraved at such expense and labor. As observed by Hugh Alan Phillips of the Department of Geography at the University of Wisconsin Madison, ʺCopper was chosen as a medium because of its size, stability and workability. Copperplate engraving was a tedious and exacting process requiring considerable skill.ʺ1 In subsequent years when changes or corrections were required, the master copper plates were smoothed in specific areas which needed to be re engraved, seamlessly integrating new lines or lettering with older portions that had been prepared years or decades earlier. Thus, the original plates, still surviving today, display a compound of original and updated elements. In the instance of the plates now at hand, a total of SEVEN ʺPRINTINGSʺ OF THE SALT LAKE QUADRANGLE were produced between 1885 and 1930, as itemized in a TABLE which appears on the following page...

4 UTAH - SALT LAKE QUADRANGLE PRINTINGS "EDITION OF DEC. 1885" (described beginning in 1900 as "EDITION OF OCTOBER 1885") year printed ALTERATIONS NOTICED (not including some of the marginal content such as the sheet's title, or names of various directors of the United States Geological Survey). See overview at: View the original 1885 USGS retained copy of this PRINTING at: The caption for "Emigration Creek" has been re-engraved to read as a single phrase. (In the 1885 printing, the two words were separated far from one another.) The spelling of the hamlet of Walsburg (as spelled in the 1885 printing), south of Heber, has been changed to "Wallsburg." "GREAT SALT LAKE" added in large letters running vertically at top left of map, in the lake. In the bottom margin (running diagonally outward from the two corners) are (left): "(Sevier Desert)" and (right) "(Price River)" Also, running horizontally in bottom-center margin: "(Manti)" "STRAWBERRY VALLEY BIRD RESERVE" added to the lower-right (southeast corner) of the map in small block letters, with the area blocked off with squared, segmented lines. This addition appears on the original 1885 copper plate. Massive areas for WASATCH NATIONAL FOREST and UNINTA NATIONAL FOREST have been labeled in large letters, with their areas blocked off with squared, segmented lines. However, these obtrusive additions do not appear in the copper plate, so were added by another means A printed paragraph has been added in the lower margin relating to maps within the region of this quadrangle, in a more detailed scale, now available "from later and more detailed surveys..."

5 SALT LAKE CITY, Fort Douglass, City Creek, Emigration Creek, Red Butte Creek. Detail from the original 1885 black ink plate, with its seamless 1896 relocation of the word ʺCreekʺ in ʺEmigration Creek,ʺ at lower left of image. Besides Salt Lake City and Provo, this quadrangle includes all of UTAH LAKE (detail from the original ʺreverseʺ 1885 hydrographic ʺblue inkʺ plate shown AT LEFT); a small portion of the Great Salt Lake, and the towns of Farmington in the north to Payson in the South, plus Park City, Springville, Spanish Fork, Coalville, Heber, Kamas and other contiguous settlements). Striking contours depict steep mountains more than 11,000 feet high in

6 places. Each line represents an elevation difference of 250 feet. Here is AN AREA WEST OF PARK CITY (remember that the engraving is in reverse)... Detail from the original 1885 brown ink plate. I have heightened the contrast of this photograph significantly in order to show the lines more clearly. Below is the same approximate area shown in satellite view on Google Maps...

7 The image ABOVE RIGHT (photographed at an oblique angle to catch the light) shows the original 1885 black ink plateʹs engraving for the area around Provo, Utah. I have ʺflippedʺ that image for a mirror view and enhanced its contrast in order to make it easier to compare with the 1885 black ink portion printing of the same area, ABOVE LEFT. M AJOR JOHN WESLEY POWELL ( ) explored the Colorado River and southern Utah, among other challenging locations, and is remembered as the respected head of the first combined entity for officially mapping and charting the nationʹs topographic and geological features. By the time that his ʺsurvey of the Colorado Plateau was completed in 1879,ʺ according to Gustave O. Larson and Charles S. Peterson, ʺA virtually unknown land had been made known, given boundaries, and labeled. Of all who gave names to the region Indians, Spaniards, mountain men, government officials, explorers, and Mormons none but the Mormons gave as many as did John Wesley Powell.ʺ2

8 ʺThe outbreak of the Civil War stopped all mapping activities,ʺ explain Richard T. Evans and Helen M. Frye, other than those needed by the U.S. Army. During the war, topographic surveys were carried on throughout the war zone under the supervision of the Corps of Engineers, the topographers being civilian employees. After the war, the country west of the Mississippi again became the center of the mapping activities of the government, which had in view the development of the national resources of this vast area. Although between 1867 and 1878 numerous surveys were carried on in all parts of the United States, of great value for the specific purposes for which they were planned, especially in the survey of proposed railroad, canal, and wagon routes, there were only four large, well equipped organizations carrying on systematic topographic surveys under government supervision and support. These were the U.S. Geological Exploration of the 40th Parallel (Clarence King, ), under the War Department; the U.S. Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories (Professor F.V. Hayden, ), under the Interior Department; the U.S. Geographical and Geological Survey of the Rocky Mountain Region (Maj. J.W. Powell, ), under the Smithsonian Institution; and the Geographical Surveys west of the 100th meridian (Capt. George E. Wheeler, C.E., ), under the War Department Hayden, King, and Powell, the three civilian heads of the surveys abolished by the Act of March 3, 1879, were able scientists and masterful organizers, and on their records, each was eligible for appointment as Director of the newly created Geological Survey. King was nominated by President Hayes on March 21, 1879, was confirmed by the Senate on April 3, and entered on the duties of the office on May 24, It was understood in some quarters that King accepted the appointment with the understanding that he would remain only long enough to appoint the staff, organize the work, and guide the forces into full activity. On July 19, 1879, Hayden was appointed as a geologist, and Powell was already organizing the Bureau of Ethnology, of which he became the Director in On March 14, the President nominated John W. Powell... as Director [of the Geological Survey]. Congress confirmed the nomination on March 18, and on the next day he took the oath of office. Major Powell was in complete accord with the plan of operations and methods of investigations as followed by Mr. King and his wisely selected corps of geologists and specialists, and proposed to continue the work begun and in progress. In providing for the work of the Survey during the fiscal year July 1, 1882, to June 30, 1883, Congress adopted the recommendation of the Director and extended the operations of the Survey to encompass the entire country. The Sundry Civil Appropriation Act of 1882 provided that the Geological Survey continue the preparation of a geologic map of the United States. It was not until August 7, 1882, that the act was passed and approved, but the Director,

9 mindful of the enlarged duties in prospect, on July 1, 1882, appointed Henry Gannett Chief Geographer to take charge of the topographic mapping. As yet, there was no authority for the publication of topographic maps as such, but their production as bases for geologic and economic maps illustrating the resources and classification of the land was of such primary importance that they were given first place in the annual reports. 5 THE SECTION WHICH FOLLOWS is lengthy, but probably gives us the best understanding available of the relative situation of the original plates now at hand, in relation to the beginnings of the ultimately vast system of maps produced during the next many decades by the US Geological Survey. I will highlight points of particular relevance below, while leaving them in context within this important segment from the Evans & Frye Circular... ENGRAVING OF MAPS Under the statutes relating to the Geological Survey, there was no provision for the general publication of topographic maps. They could be published only as a basis for geologic and economic maps illustrating the resources and classification of the lands. A small edition (250 copies) was necessary for the use of the employees and collaborators of the Survey in the prosecution of the field and the office work. After careful study, plans were formulated for the printing of these maps. The cartographic conventions the symbols to be used on the maps for the representation of the cultural, hydrographic, and hypsographic facts were reduced to the greatest possible simplicity, in order that the maps be easily understood and be of value to not only scientists and engineers, but to all classes of people. The maps were to be engraved on copper..., three plates being required for each. On one was to be engraved the hydrography, for printing in blue; on the second, the hypsography, as represented by contours, for printing in brown; and on the third, the projection lines, lettering, and public culture, to be printed in black. Plans were matured by the Public Printer and, in the spring of 1885, a contract was made with Messrs. Bien & Co., of New York, for the engraving of 100 maps. Of these, 17 were transmitted to Bien & Co. before June 30, 1885, while the manuscript maps for the rest were then completed and were ready for transmission. It was believed that, with the current appropriation for topographic work, areas comprising 100 maps could be surveyed each year and the manuscripts prepared for the engraver.

10 Hydrography detail from the original 1885 blue ink plate, showing a region centered southwest of Coalville, draining (at upper center) off Lewis Peak (image ʺflippedʺ horizontally from the reverse engraving to show correct layout, but displaying the copper surface as photographed in bright natural light without contrast or sharpness enhanced). The first maps issued by the Geological Survey as topographic maps only and on which no geology was shown were photolithographs of areas in northeastern Arizona and northwestern New Mexico. Small editions of these maps were printed in 1883 and each map included an area of 2 square degrees of latitude and longitude. The engraved maps for these areas were published as regular 1 degree quadrangles. The first was the Canyon De Chelly, Ariz., Quadrangle, dated March 1886; the second was the Marsh Pass, Ariz., Quadrangle, dated April The maps of the remainder of the area Fort Defiance and Tusayan, Ariz., and Wingate and Mount Taylor, N. Mex., quadrangles were dated May or June By June 30, 1886, the engraving firm [had] been furnished with the manuscripts of 76 maps, and had delivered to the Survey completed copper plates of 55 maps, also small printed editions (250 copies) of 49 of them. Of the 55 maps, 35 were degree quadrangles in the far western states: Arizona 11, California 1, Montana 3, Nevada 2, New Mexico 2, and Utah 16. [NOTE, however, that the USGS retained copy of the UTAH SALT LAKE map bears an early manuscript note illustrated below (but not in the Circular quoted here): ʺEdition of Dec ʺ RG] The other 20 maps were 30 minute quadrangles: Alabama 2, Kansas 6, Missouri 6, Tennessee 4, and Texas 2. The locations of the quadrangles mapped were indicated on a Progress Map of

11 the United States, printed by T. Sinclair & Son, Philadelphia, and attached to the Survey s Seventh Annual Report. The engraving of maps continued under the contract system. The Public Printer entered into contracts: in October 1888 with Messrs. Sinclair & Son of Philadelphia, for engraving 100 maps of the general atlas; in April 1889, with H.C. Evans of Washington, D.C., for engraving 30 maps; in June 1889, with Harris & Co. of Philadelphia, for engraving 21 maps. Competition between engraving firms for contracts was keen, price levels had been greatly lowered, and with them the quality of the product, uniformity of execution was out of the question; vexatious delays in the delivery of the work were frequent.

12 As the topographic maps were engraved, proof copies were placed in the hands of geologists, to use in connection with their work; they also were given to engineers and other persons whose work demanded local topographic data. Errors and omissions were discovered and corrected. Moreover, the cultural elements of topography such as names, towns, roads, and railroads undergo changes, and so far as these changes supervene between the engraving of maps and their publication, the plates should be revised so as to conform thereto. It was estimated then that the general atlas of the United States would comprise about 7,000 maps. In 1887, consideration for the publication of the first maps of the geologic atlas developed the fact that the old classification and color symbolism must be abandoned and that, in order to devise and establish a satisfactory and enduring scheme, an extensive study of, and experimentation with, colors and processes would be necessary. These operations, in addition to the modification of the topographic plates by way of correction and revision, constituted work which could not advantageously be performed under the contract system. While the topographic features of a quadrangle receive three impressions, each with a different color, for the delineation of the geology, each sheet will receive from 2 to 20 different impressions. 6 [IMAGE ABOVE: Detail from the original 1885 black ink plate, showing the towns of Alpine, Lehi, American Fork and Pleasant Grove (image as photographed in bright natural light without enhancement of contrast or sharpening of focus).] 1 Hugh A. Phillips, ʺCopperplate Engraving for the Production of Topographic Maps at the United States Geological Survey ʺ in Meridian, A Journal of the Map and Geography Round Table of the American Library Association 11 (1997), 5. 2 ʺOpening the Colorado Plateau,ʺ Chapter 20 of Utahʹs History, ed. Richard D. Poll et al. (Provo, Utah: BYU Press, 1978), Image from p. 376: ʺMajor John Wesley Powell questions a Paiute Indian living on the Kaibab Plateau in northern Arizona.ʺ

13 3 Richard T. Evans and Helen M. Frye, History of the Topographic Branch (Division), (Reston, Virginia: U.S. Geological Survey, 2009; Circular 1341), Evans and Frye, 6. 5 Evans and Frye, 9. 6 Evans and Frye, 24.