Panoramic Views Along the Line of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad. The Scenic Line of the World.

Description

A stunning foldout set of scenic views of Colorado and Utah, published ca. 1894 by Poole Bros. as a promotional piece for the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad.

The brochure folds out to display a series of views of towns and natural features traversed by the railroad, progressing from east to west, including: Manitou, the Garden of the Gods, Royal Gorge, Marshall Pass, Cañon of the Grand River, Glenwood Springs (displaying the beautiful Hotel Colorado, opened 1893), Toltec Gorge, Cathedral Spire, and Castle Gate. The verso includes promotional, descriptive text with a general overview of the entire line as well as the locations highlighted on the recto. A map on the verso provides an overview of the entire Denver & Rio Grande network as it existed at the time. Today’s Amtrak California Zephyr service follows the route of the Denver & Rio Grande from Glenwood Spring through Salt Lake City.

This brochure was published by Poole Bros of Chicago, with some of the recto views signed by Knight, Leonard & Co., also of Chicago, for the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad around the year 1894. A work with this title or a highly similar title was produced for the Denver & Rio Grande from the 1890s into the 1920s, sometimes with great variations in the size and content of the fold out graphics. The present edition is quite early, likely the first, and consequently much rarer than later editions. Nine institutions in the OCLC note this edition among their holdings.