Behold Mount Washington, New Hampshire, as if borne above its peak and above the clouds, the entire atmosphere in pale blue, purple and rose hues of dawn as drawn on stone by Geo. Walker & Co.'s artists for the Bird's Eye View from Summit of Mt. Washington; White Mountains, New Hampshire. Issued by Passenger Department Boston & Maine R.R. (copyright 1902) first edition 1/. The bird's eye view is looking down through the parted clouds on a summer day at human activity, historic buildings and the cog railway. This art work's dynamic scenery is also a detailed geographic map that includes portions of Vermont, Massachusetts and Maine. The spherical composition gives way to the impression that we are in fact gazing at Mt. Washington as the defining feature of its own planet consisting only of mountains, waters and green valleys.
The provenance of this unique example of Bird's Eye View from Summit of Mt. Washington (1902) first edition is local to Mt. Washington and the vicinity, as it belonged to Augustus E. Philbrook, the 19th c. owner 2/ of the historic Philbrook Farm Inn, in Shelburne, New Hampshire 3/ whose front door welcomes guests and faces the Presidential Mountain Range of the White Mountains region. The town of Shelburne sits just north and easterly of Mt. Washington and close to the Maine border. While Geo. Walker & Co. published his Bird's Eye View from Summit of Mt. Washington commercially for the Boston & Maine Railroad to promote Mt. Washington as a tourist destination 4/, the map's artwork and its subject express equally or more so the local culture and traditions of the White Mountains residents. This specific map belonged to an advocate for this landscape and his community.
The Aug. E. Philbrook owned Bird's Eye View from Summit of Mt. Washington (1902) is also unique as to its custom format, having been dissected and laid down on linen and placed in hand made, custom paper boards to permit opening and closing the large map without damaging its fold lines and to protect the map when closed. The map covers are signed and dated on both sides by its owner. The result is one hundred and twenty-three years later a map of exceptional color and condition.
Geo. Walker & Co.'s iconic and complex color lithograph of the summit of Mt. Washington in context of the surrounding mountainous region and accompanied by extensive numbered keys identifying locations throughout the map is in the pictorial tradition of early 19th century German bird's eye views of celebrated mountains that are also maps. See for example Panorama des Inselsberges., Verlage des Geographischen Instituts zu Weimar, 1823.
The Bird's Eye View from Summit of Mt. Washington (1902) has a set of lengthy numerical keys laid out in the four corners of the map that identify the natural landscape and man made features from four ordinal points of the compass. The 190 numbered locations are numbered from zero to 189. The features on the summit of Mt. Washington are listed under a fifth key headed "On Summit". The On Summit key begins with a zero unique to this first edition example of the map. There are two later editions of the map with the same copyright date (1902) and these editions can be distinguished as later by the numbering system of the On Summit key as described in Note 1 below.
Bird's Eye View from Summit of Mt. Washington. White Mountains. New Hampshire. 1902 reminds us, whether we are hikers, or ride the cog railway up the slope to the summit or sit at home with this map in our hands to imagine being on Mt. Washington's summit viewing it mountainous surroundings as depicted by Geo. Walker & Co.'s art work, that Mt. Washington itself is a commanding geological presence in the New England landscape and the source of an entire body of mapmaking, literature and art.
Notes:
1. Boston Home Journal, vol. 58 No.1, 1902 (p.19) in an article describing New England travel books prepared by the Boston and Maine R.R. refers to "...a new Bird's Eye View of the White Mountains from the Summit of Mt. Washington" by Geo. Walker Lithography. This 1902 review confirms the 1902 copyright year and the first edition publication year are both 1902. I am not aware of an edition with an earlier or later copyright year. There are two later editions after 1902. The three editions of the map differ in the numbering and content of the key On Summit. Their publication dates can be inferred from the On Summit key. The first edition's key, titled On Summit, begins with a zero, "0. Lizzie Bourne Monument." followed by twelve items and there are thus thirteen labeled locations, 0-12. Item 3. is the "Tower". The Tower burned down by the end of 1902. The second edition was published after 1902 and before the end of 1908 because it includes "8. Engine House" on its key On Summit, and there is no listing for the Tower. A fire in late 1908 destroyed the Engine House. Also notably, the first entry in this edition's key is "1. Mt. Washington RR. Train" followed by "2. Lizzy Bourne Monument." The third edition On Summit key lacks the Tower, destroyed in 1902 and the Engine House, burned and ruined in 1908, and thus logically was published in 1909 or reasonably thereafter in the waning era of the 19th c. grand hotels of the White Mountains. This third map edition has print on the verso.
2. "Aug. E. Philbrook, Shelburne, N.H. A.D. 1900" in manuscript identifies the map's owner. The 1900 date written on the cover is somewhat confusing, as this map was copyrighted in 1902. The owner is Augustus Eugene Philbrook (1855-1949). He is the son of the founders of the Philbrook Farm Inn, Harvey Philbrook (1812-1874) and Susanna Wight Philbrook (1813-1891).
3. The Philbrook Farm Inn is still family owned and in operation in Shelburne, Coos County, New Hampshire.
4. In July, 1902, the Mt. Washington Hotel opened to great fanfare as the largest hotel in the region. Boston based lithographer, commercial map and tourist guide publisher Geo. H. Walker therefore had every motivation that year to obtain his 1902 copyright for the map Bird's Eye View from Summit of Mt. Washington (1902) for the audience seeking to learn more about the White Mountains, and specifically about visiting Mt. Washington by train. The Mt.Washington Hotel offered New York, Boston and other tourists an exceptional luxury hotel for their week or weeks long vacation visit to the White Mountains. This small folded pocket map and guide afforded those traveling by train from Boston and other cities an easy to carry, inexpensive and aesthetically captivating guide and upon opening the map Bird's Eye View from Summit of Mt. Washington (1902) a stunning work of art and map.