A Visitor’s Guide to Old Charleston Both Yesterday and Today

A vibrant look at the rich history of Charleston, South Carolina.

This uncommon pictorial map of Charleston and the surrounding area was designed by James Polzois and published locally by the Indigo House. The entire image is dedicated to the region’s important role in the course of American history, from the earliest settlement through the 19th century.

The primary image shows the historic city situated on the peninsula between the Cooper and Ashley Rivers, with 26 principal landmarks identified with letters and explained in the accompanying key. Small vignettes and annotations in the immediate vicinity also reference important events, places and people from the past. A broader perspective on the surrounding area is provided in the lower inset map, which shows a larger area of ‘The Carolina Low Country’. ‘Places of Historical Interest’ and ‘Scenic Historic & Unique’ on the map are numbered and labeled.

Surrounding the entire image is a highly decorative border featuring portraits of prominent citizens, views of important buildings, and four cartouches with scenes from the city’s past; a stand of Cypress trees predating European settlement, Fort Sumter, the Great Fire of 1861, and Ashley Hall in 1816. One final inset map, of “Charles Towne circa 1704” is also shown in the bottom border.

Scarce, with no copies found in OCLC, Rumsey, or elsewhere online. One copy was previously sold by Barry Ruderman.