Original antique · The actual sheet photographed · Certificate of authenticity on request · Sold unframed · Worldwide shipping from € 15 (rates)
Date
1888
Sheet size
52.5 × 36 cm (20.7 × 14.2 in)
Condition
Good
Reference
BG-12794-64
What the condition grades mean
Excellent
Bright and clean, with no faults worth mentioning.
Very good
Only light signs of age, such as faint toning.
Good
Normal signs of age for a sheet of this period: toning, some foxing, small marks or neat old repairs.
Fair
Clear faults such as staining, tears or repairs, priced to match.
Every fault we see is written in the condition note, and the whole sheet is shown uncropped in the photos.
Condition
Condition summary: Good condition for its age, with light toning to the paper and some wear along the original center fold. Minor handling marks at the margins, small edge nicks, and faint foxing in places, but no major tears or repairs.
About this sheet
Illinois in 1888, an original atlas map from Rand, McNally & Co.'s Improved Indexed Business Atlas and Shippers Guide, printed on two facing pages with the lettering "Rand, McNally & Co.'s Illinois" in the right margin.
The sheet is dominated by railroads, traced across the state in red and blue lines, with the lines of every company running between the towns and radiating from Chicago on Lake Michigan at the upper right. County boundaries and county seats are drawn throughout, with Springfield, Peoria, Bloomington, Rockford, Decatur and Cairo among the places lettered. Two insets at the left give more detail: "Chicago and Vicinity" at the lower left, with its streets and railroad lines, and the Rock Island and Moline area at the upper left, with Davenport across the Mississippi.
The 1880s were a decade of rapid railroad growth in Illinois. By then Chicago had rebuilt after the fire of 1871 and was the rail hub of the Midwest, and maps like this one served shippers and business travelers who needed to see which lines connected which towns.
