Many readers will be familiar with the 1869 Beers County Atlases. The original atlases are scarce today, and have a greenish tan cover. In the originals, all towns are printed in color. See photo with this article.
In 1969, they were reprinted in black and white with a black hardcover, so they are easy to discern from the originals. The subject of this article is the 1969 reprint that many of us use today.
When Bob Ulbrich was retiring, he contacted me to sell his collection of atlases. In that collection was an atlas I had not seen before. It’s a promotional for the upcoming 1969 atlas of Windsor County. It is a softcover, and a bit narrower than the 1969 reprint.
Taped inside the front cover is a typed one and a half page letter with letterhead “Charles E. Tuttle Co., Inc.” At the left of this is their address in Japan. In part, it reads:
“ANNOUNCING THE PUBLICATION OF REPRINT EDITIONS OF THREE IMPORTANT EARLY VERMONT ATLASES”
“‘History is an everlasting possession,’ said Thucydides, the Greek historian. To assure this statement applies to these three famous counties in Vermont the Charles E. Tuttle Co. is proud to announce the publication on March 15, 1970 of a limited number of reprints of the early atlases of Rutland, Bennington and Windsor counties. An attractive feature of the reprints will be the comparatively low prices, the prepublication price being a special $15.00, and the publication price $17.50.
“These accurate and eye-appealing atlases have been almost impossible to obtain for many years. The few copies that have been sold always brought premium prices. Published in 1869, the atlases were produced from actual surveys by and under the direction of F.W. Beers, the greatest American map-maker of his day.
“Each attractive, folio-size atlas will contain a magnificent map of Vermont in full color. The individual town maps will be printed in black and white, with excellent production quality. Each volume will contain a sketch of the early history of the county, and a list of statistics of the various towns and villages. The town maps indicate the location of buildings, names of residents, and names of most of the business places in each town.
“A few of the towns listed have died of old but venerable age; some have been by-passed by progress; but all are well preserved for posterity in these invaluable works.
“The atlases will be of special interest to town clerks, libraries, real estate dealers and legal firms. Their genealogical and statistical gleanings will delight students of local history.
“The old print addict can gaze joyfully and nostalgically at the several pages of engravings in the back of each atlas, depicting such historic and sometimes quaint scenes as the Bennington Battle Field, the University of Vermont, Ethan Allen Monument, the Ludlow Woolen Mills, Chester Academy, the Hubbardton Battlefield and Monument, and the early churches, some of which are still in use today.
“The Tuttle Company is proud to be a part of this Vermont heritage, the parent publishing house having been started in Rutland in 1832. We will be pleased to fill all orders on a first-come, first-served basis. We urge you to place your order promptly, and take advantage of the special pre-publication price of only $15.00 per copy. After publication on March 15, 1970, the regular price will be $17.50.”
Handwritten below that in red ink, “Ordered 10-6-69 via check 6703.”
Also from Bob Ulbrich is a boxed Beers Atlas of Windham County. These loose pages are also in black and white. The colored box cover reads, “The Centennial Edition 1869-1969. For sale from ‘The Book Cellar Brattleboro, Vermont’ Distributed by the Stephan Greene Press, Brattleboro.”
This week’s old saying is from Ken Barrett. “Hotter than a Stihl chainsaw in a pawn shop.”