Original map of the Transvaal or South-African Republic
This map is entitled the “Original map of the Transvaal or South-African Republic” and was published in 1875. It was the first comprehensive and accurate map of the Transvaal and was published just before the outbreak of the First Boer War. The map shows the geography of the area, and highlights (quite literally, through the use of color) the political boundaries between Portuguese dominions, British dominions, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State. The feature of the map that makes it most interesting to my project, however, is the inclusion of a green line that marks the “boundary of the Tsetse fly.” The tsetse fly causes sleeping sickness, one of the diseases that posed such difficulties to the European colonial endeavor. Until you read the label, it looks like the green line marks another territorial boundary between nations; instead it gives the territory of the fly as much visual importance as that of, say, Britain. Insofar as presence of the tsetse fly and therefore increased disease transmission prevented colonial expansion, then perhaps the green line does mark a political boundary: the regions to which European colonizers could not expand. It is also an interesting way of visualizing disease, since no disease is explicitly mentioned on the map, instead it is the habitat of the vector that is noted, with the implication that everyone knew what the tsetse fly was and its effect. Disease is referenced vaguely in other labels on the map, such as “unhealthy flats”, but this is not even given a exact marker or reference to the type of disease in that area.
Map of Europe, Showing its Gt. Political Divisions
This atlas map of Europe is included as it is an excellent example of a persistent problem that cartographers of Europe faced after German unification: how to label the quasi-federal German Empire. Interestingly, the label for Prussia -- the dominant German state -- is bigger than that of Germany. While the label for Germany runs vertically through the Rhineland -- a major British tourist destination -- the Prussian label runs horizontally. One might wonder whether British tourists to Germany connected the country they visited with the rising German state, or whether they sustained a similar dichotomy between Germany and Prussia. A possible explanation for why this map labels Germany so is that it uses plates made before German unification -- a version of the map made in 1870 has the same label, with the horizontal "Prussia" indicating Prussian territory and the vertical "Germany" indicating the smaller German states. Pre-unification maps did distinguish between (militaristic) Prussia and the rest of Germany, and through inertia that distinction persisted long into unification, for example in these maps. It is of itself interesting that the term "Germany" was used, and given the same stylistic treatment as the name of a country, before the creation of a single German state, suggesting that British and American people thought of the German states -- excluding Prussia -- as a country, even before unification.
Samuel Augustus Mitchell and W. Williams
A 1930 pictorial map of the United States with a focus on the foods produced by each state. The colors of the map are vibrant, and the decoration stylized. Within each state, the artist/cartographer has drawn in imagery of the food products. Additionally, each state contains images of the peoples and cultural components of the state. These images are often racialized and stereotyped. Often, images are combined to create tableaux (chases, thefts, interactions), which usually serve to enforce stereotypes, particularly of African Americans. The bottom of the map contains a banner which gives a romanticized account of American progress. The map was published by the Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company, and also serves as an advertisement for the company, noting all the locations of Great Atlantic and Pacific outposts and the efficiency of their shipping. Insets on the corners also highlight A&P, as well as representative circle maps showing the distribution of meat, fish, and poultry throughout the country.
The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company (A&P)
Map of America's Making, A Chart of Places and Events
This pictorial map depicts the history of the United States, with history seeming to be defined as colonial activity -- or even more broadly, white history (although it does record the historical locations of several Native American tribes). It records historical events such as battles and colonial discoveries; historical locations such as white American settlements and the place where the sod breaking plod was invented. The illustrations are largely confined to state borders, with the exception of rivers and migration trails or army marches. The bottom of the map contains insets with expanded illustration and context for a number of regions and events, such as "The Frontier" and "The Declaration of Independence". The map also extends beyond the borders of the United States and points out the colonial events on several colonial islands, in Mexico, and Canada, as well as routes that colonial explorers followed. Follow the words wrapping around the border and you'll see a quote from the Gettysburg Address.
This 1934 pictorial map was created by the Kellogg Company. The titular "Gifts of Nature" refers to agricultural plenty, but the map also depicts historical sites, industry, and Native American tribes. Also shown are railroad lines, migration routes, and recreation. Insets on both sides of the map, as well as near the Great Lakes, connect these "gifts" to the development of the Kelloggs Company. The narrative begins with Native Americans, then depicts the original home of Kelloggs, then moves on to facts about the company's industrial prowess as well as a picture of the enormous Kellogg plant. The trajectory of this narrative advances an argument for progress and success: white dominance, homegrown business, and industrialization. This narrative is supported by imagery throughout the map, as when Native American tribes are represented by tomahawks. Additionally, large labels throughout the map define swathes of land by their agricultural output: "The Heart of the Corn Country," "The Land of Cotton," etc. This indicates that the land itself has a destiny: to support the American people (specifically, through their consumption of Kelloggs!). Interestingly, the only human forms depicted are those of cowboys in the southwest. Of the maps in this collection, this is the one that advances the most explicit commercial argument.
John Bull and his friends: a serio-comic map of Europe
This British cartoon map of Europe paints a belligerently nationalistic view of diplomatic relations in 1900. John Bull, Britain personified, is swatting away two cats -- Boer troops resisting British rule in South Africa -- while the rest of Europe condemns or conspires against him. What is significant about this map is the way that France is portrayed as less sinister than Germany, which is less sinister than Russia. While Marianne is shown looking glumly at broken toys labelled with the names of political and diplomatic incidents, Germany is represented by the Kaiser in uniform stockpiling battleships and exports, and Russia is an octopus with the Czar at its centre. One could argue that proximity is the defining factor: France is close to England and had perhaps been visited by the artist and his expected reader. Russia on the other hand is a very long way away, and thus understandably more sinister. Germany is between the two.
This network graph has as its nodes points at which passengers would embark or disembark trains or boats on long journeys from London to various European destinations, as advised by the table of quickest routes in the index of Cook's Continental Time Table. One can trace the quickest journey back to London by clicking on any destination and following the arrows. This graph shows how British travellers to Europe did so overwhelmingly via a small number of places -- most notably Paris but also Cologne and Basel ("Bale" in the time table). Thus we can see that France, and the French state as encountered in Paris, was very familiar to British travellers. And while the Rhineland was familiar, Prussia and Berlin were distant and passed through relatively seldom.
This map shows most of the data points on the network graph on a modern map of Europe, with the size and colour of the dots indicating distance in hours from London as indicated in Cook's Time Table. Regrettably, to allow Google's geotagging feature to work, it uses modern place names and country names. Those points with more than one dot represent multiple routes taking longer or shorter amounts of time. This kind of scale gives one a more meaningful sense of how far different places in Europe were from London, and thus perhaps how distant and foreign they seemed to British people before the First World War.
Compiled from data in Cook's Continental Time Table, Steamship and Air Services, 1913.
Continental (but neither of these are historical maps)
Qing Empire's Complete Map of All Under Heaven
The Qing Empire under Emperor Qianlong (r. 1735-1795) was an age of expansion. After conquering the New Domination at the west, the Emperor sent missionaries there to do surveys. In 1761, basing on new surveys and the previous national map made under Emperor Kangxi regime (r. 1661-1722), missionaries finished a new map on the whole Qing Empire with longitude and latitude. This map is later called Imperial atlas of the Imperial Secretariat from the Qianlong Reign. Since this map is usually kept in the Imperial Secretariat, few people could see it. However, Dong Youcheng managed to copy the Qianlong map, and Li Zhaoluo later compiled and published this copy in 1832. This newly published map is named “Qing Empire's Complete Map of All Under Heaven.” This map combines the Western geographic coordinate system and the grid system used in traditional Chinese cartography.
Territories of the Chineses Qing Empire (around the later 18th century)
Map of the Borderlines of China and Russia
This map, named The Map of the Borderlines of China and Russia, is a selected translation from one 1884 Russian map. Hong Jun (1839-1893), who had been the Qing Empire’s emissary, bought the original map in Russia and translated place names into Chinese. His purpose of translation was to make use of Russian’s accurate survey on the borders, roads, and landscapes. The maps of the Russian Empire and the Qing Empire calculate the longitude in a different way. (For Russia, the zero degrees longitude line passes Moscow; for China, it passes Beijing.) Therefore, Hong Jun offers the method to make conversions in the map’s notes.
The vast areas adjacent to the borderline of China and Russia
Krymskaia oblastʹ, fizicheskaia uchebnaia karta
A 'physical educational map' (физическая учебная карта) of the Crimean peninsula, featuring three smaller maps (a climate map, a soil map and a vegetation map). The legend includes cities, boundaries, roads and railroads, natural resources and touristic attractions (relating to the history, culture and nature of Crimea). On the right side of the map, all the tourist attractions (museums, monuments, obelisks, ruins, palaces, etc.) are listed per city. The density of the features is particularly high on the southern part of the peninsula.
Kurdina, G. P.; Malyshenko, A. G.; Artsiss, A. L.
Glavnoe Upravlenie Geodezii i Kartografii (GUGK)