Scenes are drawn to scale: the sofa is 84 in wide, the desk 60 in, the door 80 in tall. Switch sizes above to compare.
Step 1 — set the scale. Drag the slider until the gold bar on the photo is the height of a standard doorway (80 in / 203 cm). Every size you pick is then drawn true to life.
Step 2 — drag the print to where it would hang, and change size or frame above to compare.
Antique Maps of US States
Antique Map of California, 1851
A newly constructed and improved map of the State of California, with the counties and the gold region — J. B. Tassin, published by Cooke & LeCount, San Francisco
From the Library of Congress, Geography & Map Division · 1851
$129Charged in USD at checkout; local currency shown for reference.
Source scan:LOC. Rights statement of the archive: “The content of the Library of Congress Geography and Map Division digitized collections is free to use and reuse unless a Rights Advisory statement is present that indicates otherwise. Credit Line: Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division.” Original map: Tassin, 1851, 1 map : hand colored ; 65 x 49 cm, folded to 22 x 13 cm. Verified 2026-09-13.
This product is a new archival print made from a restored scan of that map. It is not an original antique and is not sold as one.
The story of this map
This is California in the year after it became a state, mapped in San Francisco for the people pouring into it. J. B. Tassin’s map was published by Cooke & LeCount in 1851, when the gold rush was at full tilt, and its full title promises exactly what a newcomer wanted: the new counties fixed by the legislature that April and “a corrected and improved delineation of the gold region.”
The hand colouring is what catches the eye first: the freshly drawn counties in soft washes, the long line of the coast, and the gold country traced along the Sierra foothills. Look closer and you find the rivers that miners followed, the bay towns and the first inland settlements, many of them barely a year or two old. The copy in the Library of Congress was owned and signed by Millard Fillmore, the president who oversaw California’s admission.
It is a map for Californians, for anyone with gold-rush ancestors, and for kitchens, hallways and offices from Sacramento to San Diego. It sits in our Antique Maps of US States collection, and it makes a delightful pair with the c. 1650 Vinckeboons map that still shows California as an island.
Printed to order on archival matte paper and framed in the country of delivery.
Before and after
Left: the archive scan exactly as published. Right: the file that goes to the printer.
Restoration notes
Restoration plan: the Library's copy is mounted on cloth and sectioned into twelve panels, so the fold lines between panels will be mended digitally and the panel edges evened out; crop scan margins, balance colour cast and levels while keeping the paper tone and hand colouring, remove library stamps and scanner artefacts if present, gentle sharpening. The copy is signed by Millard Fillmore; the signature will be assessed and retained unless it distracts from the map. No repainting of original content.
Every print carries its archive credit on the packing slip. Paper tone and small imperfections of the original are kept on purpose; nothing is redrawn.
Pairs well with
Hang them together — 10% off the second framed print
Informational purposes only, no warranties, not professional advice. All products are new archival prints made from restored scans of historical maps held by public archives; they are not original antiques. Colours vary by screen and by paper.
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