Four oversize volumes of the 1907 Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps of Memphis, Tennessee, with 1922 and 1928 revisions pasted in. These color lithographed maps describe the city in great detail, including the location of all buildings, roads, railroads, and water systems. Maps 14-15, vol. 1, and 140-143, vol. 2, are either missing or were not included. Published by Sanborn Map Company, 1907, New York. Folio, 27 1/4" H x 19 1/2" W x 2 3/8" D. Note: Of interest to historical researchers and for preservation and restoration purposes, these volumes describe demographic changes in Memphis. For instance, plates 151-152, vol. 2, show the area changing from a white middle-class neighborhood to a black middle-class neighborhood and business district, evidenced by the "negro tenements" and black churches, including Centenary Methodist Episcopal and Metropolitan Baptist Church. The area on plate 152, vol. 2, was razed in 1939 for the construction of William H. Foote Homes, a public housing project. Daniel Alfred Sanborn, a civil engineer and surveyor, began working on fire insurance maps in the 1860s and his company soon became one of the largest and most successful American map companies. Sanborn's first work mapping cities for insurance purposes began in Tennessee when Aetna Insurance hired him to survey a few towns across the state. (Courtesy Tennessee State Library and Archives, Tennessee Virtual Archive)

CONDITION: All four volumes with wear commensurate with age and use, including spine and corner leather losses, but all holding firm. Missing numerous tabs. Maps with buckling, toning, minor soiling, and an occasional pencil annotation.