I am writing to share what I believe to be some interesting information and thoughts on Charles Magnus' letter sheet map "[View of Capitol Building and Washington D.C.] Topographical Map of Virginia between Washington and Manassas Junction." There seems to be some disagreement about the publication date of this letter sheet.
I have 2 or 3 copies/variations of this letter sheet with the Capitol Building, one of which has a hand-written letter by a Civil War soldier to his family. The dates on that particular letter sheet's map, the date that the soldier wrote the letter, and the reconstruction of the capitol dome timeline are what had me intrigued. I believe that Magnus took some artistic license in completing his artwork of the Capitol in 1861 (not 1863), and he made a mistaken assumption about the dome's color and material. I'll explain…
- The soldier Gilbert Chillson, wrote his letter on September 24, 1861.
- The map shows the Battle of Bulls Run, July 21, 1861, near the left margin.
- The dome on the capitol building looks "PhotoShopped in" if you will. The dome is shown mistakenly in the blue-green color of weathered copper, which the former dome was constructed out of. The new dome is painted cast iron, and construction was not completed at the date of the letter's writing. In 1861, construction on the Capitol Building's extensions and Dome were underway, and the scaffolding and construction derricks of the time likely cloaked the building. Artistic license was surely used to render the view of a completed Capitol Building on the letter sheets.
- The plans and renderings of the new Capitol were probably publicly available in some fashion. Magnus also may have acquired the likeness of The Statue of Freedom as it's plaster model was likely on display before the bronze casting work.
Given all of these data, I surmise that the letter sheets depicting this view of the Capitol Building were initially published between late July and Mid-September 1861 and not 1863, as seen in many listings online.
