Justus Perthes
Texas, 1880
10 x 8 ½ in
26 x 21 cm
26 x 21 cm
USA9957
Erforschung Nordwest-Texas and Orientirungskarte Two maps on one sheet showing central Texas on the larger lower map and northwest Texas on the smaller upper map. The upper map is...
Erforschung Nordwest-Texas and Orientirungskarte
Two maps on one sheet showing central Texas on the larger lower map and northwest Texas on the smaller upper map.
The upper map is credited to Dr. Oscar Loew and A. R. Roessler of German and Austrian origin respectively. At this time, they were both working for the United States Geographical Survey although Loew was an agricultural chemist by training. In fact, later, he would become the first official chemist to the Smithsonian Institute.
The lower map is credited to Petermann, as focusing on part of his own six sheet wall map of the United States as published for Stieler's Hand-Atlas.
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.
Original colour. [USA9957]
Two maps on one sheet showing central Texas on the larger lower map and northwest Texas on the smaller upper map.
The upper map is credited to Dr. Oscar Loew and A. R. Roessler of German and Austrian origin respectively. At this time, they were both working for the United States Geographical Survey although Loew was an agricultural chemist by training. In fact, later, he would become the first official chemist to the Smithsonian Institute.
The lower map is credited to Petermann, as focusing on part of his own six sheet wall map of the United States as published for Stieler's Hand-Atlas.
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.
Original colour. [USA9957]
