Rare Lettersheet Bird's Eye View of Milwaukee, WI. 1853 Lithograph

New York: Charles Magnus, 1853. First Edition. Loose_leaf. Very Good. Lithographed bird's eye view of Milwaukee, Wisconsin circa 1853. Image Measurements: 4 1/2" x 7 1/2". Printed on single sheet folded once lengthwise to create 4 page lettersheet measuring 9" x 11 1/4". Condition: very small nics and tears to extreme edges, light toning, else fine. These Magnus views of various cities of the United States on lettersheets are increasingly rare. Executed with extraordinary care and detail they reward careful examination with a good glass, so you can find the tiny horses with riders, the barges on the canal, and all the teeny tiny ladies strolling with their long skirts and parasols. Really lovely stuff. Charles Magnus, [1826-1900], was a print publisher, map dealer, bookseller and stationer working in New York City from 1850 to 1899 who issued over a thousand different letter sheets, maps, song sheets, envelopes, and separate prints. Lithography executed by G. G. Lange of Darmstadt, Germany. Lettersheets were created to comply with, yet circumvent, postal regulations that based the price charged for mailing a letter on the number of sheets of paper. The lettersheets, measuring 8.5 x 21 inches, could be folded in half, providing four pages for writing but the Post Office regarded them as one sheet of paper. Illustrations, often bird's-eye views or detailed street scenes of cities, were printed in a rectangular space at the top of the first page of the folio to increase their commercial appeal.