Magnus, Charles — Halifax [Bird's Eye View, Ca. 1853]

New York: Charles Magnus, 12 Frankfort Street, [ca. 1853]. Lithographed bird's eye view of Halifax. 12 x 18.3 cm. (ca. 4.5 x 7.25 inches) on 4 page lettersheet, 29.5 x 23.5 cm (11.75 x 9.25 inches). Charles Magnus, [1826-1900], was a print publisher, map dealer, bookseller and stationer working in New York City from 1850 to 1899 who issued over a thousand different letter sheets, maps, song sheets, envelopes, and separate prints. Magnus was born Julian Carl Magnus in Elberfeld, Germany, and emigrated with his family to New York City between 1848 and 1850. Lettersheets were created to comply with, yet circumvent, postal regulations that based the price charged for mailing a letter on the number of sheets of paper. The lettersheets, measuring 8.5 x 21 inches, could be folded in half, providing four pages for writing but the Post Office regarded them as one sheet of paper. Illustrations, often bird's-eye views or detailed street scenes of cities, were printed in a rectangular space at the top of the first page of the folio to increase their commercial appeal. .