Justus Perthes
Namibia, 1889
17 x 20 in
43 x 51 cm
43 x 51 cm
AFR6494
£ 345.00
Hereroland und Angrenzende und Gebiete German Southwest Africa or modern Namibia here called Hereroland. This unusual map of this remote area was compiled mainly from the notes and travels...
Hereroland und Angrenzende und Gebiete
German Southwest Africa or modern Namibia here called Hereroland. This unusual map of this remote area was compiled mainly from the notes and travels of Franz Freiherrn von Steinaecker whose journeys are marked in red.
This area was little explored even in the late 19th century until the German government laid claim to it as part of the newly nascent German Empire.
Steinaecker was a Prussian army officer who travelled to German Southwest Africa and spent over 20 years in the area, surveying, travelling and making detailed accounts of his findings. He would also go on to establish Steinaecker's Horse, an irregular British military unit which was active in the Second Boer War.
The Geographische Mittheilungen, in which this map was originally published, is the oldest German language geographical journal - its first issue was in 1855 and it finally closed its doors in 2004. The magazine was conceived and edited by August Heinrich Petermann and published by the venerable firm of Justus Perthes in Gotha, Germany.
Its first article reported on an expedition into North Africa and the Sahara by Heinrich Barth and Adolf Overweg. This report was enough to secure a circulation of 4000 for the fledgling magazine and, more importantly, encouraged other important scientist-explorers of the day who were attracted by the magazine’s heavy scientific emphasis to send in their own reports. These included Hans Meyer, the first man to ascend the Kibo crater on Mount Kilimanjaro, Sven Hedin, the Swedish explorer of Central Asia and the Himalayas, and Alfred Wegener, the geoscientist who pioneered the theory of continental shift which led to the modern theory of plate tectonics.
In comparison to its contemporaries, such as the Geographical Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, the Mittheilungen had a far greater interest in ethnography and the physical and natural sciences, leading to the inclusion of many fascinating, but sometimes obscure, maps on the most recent theories related to climatology, meteorology, botany, and zoology.
Original colour. [AFR6494]
German Southwest Africa or modern Namibia here called Hereroland. This unusual map of this remote area was compiled mainly from the notes and travels of Franz Freiherrn von Steinaecker whose journeys are marked in red.
This area was little explored even in the late 19th century until the German government laid claim to it as part of the newly nascent German Empire.
Steinaecker was a Prussian army officer who travelled to German Southwest Africa and spent over 20 years in the area, surveying, travelling and making detailed accounts of his findings. He would also go on to establish Steinaecker's Horse, an irregular British military unit which was active in the Second Boer War.
The Geographische Mittheilungen, in which this map was originally published, is the oldest German language geographical journal - its first issue was in 1855 and it finally closed its doors in 2004. The magazine was conceived and edited by August Heinrich Petermann and published by the venerable firm of Justus Perthes in Gotha, Germany.
Its first article reported on an expedition into North Africa and the Sahara by Heinrich Barth and Adolf Overweg. This report was enough to secure a circulation of 4000 for the fledgling magazine and, more importantly, encouraged other important scientist-explorers of the day who were attracted by the magazine’s heavy scientific emphasis to send in their own reports. These included Hans Meyer, the first man to ascend the Kibo crater on Mount Kilimanjaro, Sven Hedin, the Swedish explorer of Central Asia and the Himalayas, and Alfred Wegener, the geoscientist who pioneered the theory of continental shift which led to the modern theory of plate tectonics.
In comparison to its contemporaries, such as the Geographical Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, the Mittheilungen had a far greater interest in ethnography and the physical and natural sciences, leading to the inclusion of many fascinating, but sometimes obscure, maps on the most recent theories related to climatology, meteorology, botany, and zoology.
Original colour. [AFR6494]
