[Maps & Atlases] (Seymour, J.A.). Map of the Allegany County Oil Field from Actual Surveys

Bradford, Pennsylvania, ca. 1881. Large engraved folding pocket map, with hand-coloring, by J.A. Seymour. Publisher's black cloth-covered boards, stamped in gilt; map cleanly detached from boards; map with numerous manuscript annotations, noting names of landowners and the locations of producing, drilling and dry wells.

Scarce relic of the Allegany County, New York oil boom: a cadastral map of the region with manuscript additions showing the locations of oil wells.

The Pennsylvania oil rush--the first such boom in America--had begun in earnest in the 1860s in the Oil Creek Valley near Titusville. But by the 1870s it had begun to die down. Seeking new areas for drilling, in 1881, on a geologist's advice, an investor group drilled a well on the Reading Farm in Richburg, New York, about a hundred miles northeast of Titusville. The well came in at 70 barrels on its first day, and sparked the oil boom of 1881.

Within days, hundreds of people began to flood into the valley, and within ten months there were between 4,500 to 5,000 people in Bolivar, and 7,000 in Richburg. Production that first year reached over 6 million barrels in Allegany County. The Richburg Oil Boom would prove short-lived, but would have a great impact on the life of the town's young playwright L. Frank Baum. Some have argued that the brick road between Richburg and Bolivar would prove the basis for his yellow brick road of Oz and that the concept of the Tin Man needing oil to survive was inspired by the boom.

The surveyor and engraver of this map is likely to be John A. Seymour, a city engineer from nearby Bradford, Pennsylvania.

Scarce, only two examples located by OCLC (Pennsylvania State and Stanford).

This lot is located in Philadelphia.

To request further details about this lot, please email [email protected]

Please contact the Auction Specialist for details.

Darren Winston, Senior Vice President at Freeman’s, has served as Head of Department for Books & Manuscripts, Philadelphia, since 2018. He has been a trustee of the Rosenbach Museum and Library since 2022, is a member of The Manuscript Society, The Bibliographical Society of America, and Philadelphia’s Philobiblon Club.

Raised in northern New Jersey, Darren moved to New York City in 1988 and began his career there as a bookseller in 1995. He spent the next 18 years selling to private clients and at East Coast book fairs. In 2003 he moved with his young family to Sharon, Connecticut where, in 2009, he opened his own bookshop. Darren Winston, Bookseller offered rare and vintage books, prints, fine art, and more, and hosted over 50 book signings and art shows. He was a trustee and, later, Board President, of the Sharon Historical Society, and for six years a trustee of Indian Mountain School in Lakeville, Connecticut.

Darren has hosted the radio program "Darren Winston's Book Report" for NPR-affiliate WHDD since 2009, appeared in the 2014 book-themed documentary The Paper Trail, and in 2024 he joined Antiques Roadshow as a books and manuscripts appraiser. From 1999 to 2005, Darren was the buyer and consultant to the Fine and Rare Books Department at Asprey, the British luxury goods company, at its New York headquarters. While there he spearheaded various in-store events including readings by Salman Rushdie and Dominick Dunne.

In 1993, Darren was hired as a Creative Consultant to Columbia Records, where he assisted in the repackaging of their 12-record Aerosmith back catalogue. He later sold his extensive collection of Aerosmith memorabilia, which he began amassing at the age of 14, directly to the band.

Darren now lives on the Main Line, outside Philadelphia, with his wife, two children, and dog. The family travels frequently to his wife's native England and Scotland. When not bookselling, he plays guitar in Pumped, an Aerosmith tribute band. Darren also appears on the top-rated PBS television program Antiques Roadshow.

Books and Manuscripts

[Maps & Atlases] (Seymour, J.A.). Map of the Allegany County Oil Field from Actual Surveys

Books and Manuscripts

[Maps & Atlases] (Seymour, J.A.). Map of the Allegany County Oil Field from Actual Surveys

Lot Description

Condition Report

Preview

Auction Contact

Shipping | Pickup