Justus Perthes
A Proposed Trans-Saharan Railway, 1877
10 x 8 ½ in
26 x 21 cm
26 x 21 cm
AFR6413
Projektirte Eisenbahn nach Central-Afrika A curious map showing a proposed Trans-Saharan Railway route from the Libyan coast to Lake Chad. The Libyan section of the railway is shown in...
Projektirte Eisenbahn nach Central-Afrika
A curious map showing a proposed Trans-Saharan Railway route from the Libyan coast to Lake Chad. The Libyan section of the railway is shown in detail in the larger upper map, whilst below is an overview map of the continent showing the entire route. The lower map is coloured to show three different categories of terrain: forest and farmland, savannah, and desert. This is the earliest proposed Trans-Saharan Railway we have been able to identify. The French government proposed a similar project in 1879, connecting French Algeria to the coast of West Africa, Neither project was ever completed.
The Geographische Mitteilungen, 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 Mitteilungen 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.
Printed colour. [AFR6412]
A curious map showing a proposed Trans-Saharan Railway route from the Libyan coast to Lake Chad. The Libyan section of the railway is shown in detail in the larger upper map, whilst below is an overview map of the continent showing the entire route. The lower map is coloured to show three different categories of terrain: forest and farmland, savannah, and desert. This is the earliest proposed Trans-Saharan Railway we have been able to identify. The French government proposed a similar project in 1879, connecting French Algeria to the coast of West Africa, Neither project was ever completed.
The Geographische Mitteilungen, 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 Mitteilungen 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.
Printed colour. [AFR6412]
