A new addition to Harold Cramer’s Historical Maps of Pennsylvania website: a section on early pocket maps:

Briefly, a pocket map is a separately issued, folded map with a cover; they are sometimes also called case maps. Pocket maps have a long history in European cartography associated with traveling or military use. In the United States, retail pocket maps appeared on the market in the 1820s from makers like H. S. Tanner and S. A. Mitchell; and they became associated primarily with rail travel which started at about the same time. …

The maps shown here date from circa 1825 to 1925, when automobile road maps became common. All are from American publishers and of Pennsylvania and the surrounding region; many illustrate rough usage. A couple are also shown elsewhere on this website. The image size is given, sheet sizes are only slightly larger for pocket maps. The coverage is divided into three periods, circa 1825 to 1874, 1875 to 1899, 1900 to 1925.

Via MapHist.

Previously: Old Road Atlases of Pennsylvania.