1858 Kiepert Map of Armenia, Kurdistan and Azerbaijan

Heinrich Kiepert (July 31, 1818 - April 21, 1899) was a German cartographer and historian active in the mid to late 19th century. Kiepert was born into generous circumstances that allowed him to develop his childhood interest in geography and history into a serious profession. The Berlin-born Kiepert traveled widely in his youth, and was encouraged in his studies by the historian Leopold von Ranke, a family friend. He was a student of classical antiquity under August Meineke and worked with Cal Ritter. He studied history, philology, and geography at the Humboldt University of Berlin - he would eventually teach geography there, and would remain there until his death. Disappointed with the poor quality of maps in historical school books, Kiepert set out to correct the problem. His first major work, the Atlas von Hellas und den hellenischen Kolonien, was published with Karl Ritter in 1840. The work immediately won accolades from the academic community. A number of similar publications followed, including the 1848 Historisch-geographischer Atlas der alten Welt, the 1854 Atlas Antiquus, and the 1894 Formae Orbis Antiqui. He traveled to Asia Minor four times between 1841 and 1848, and made two maps of the region. Thanks in large part to these four sojourns into the region, Kiepert became the recognized expert on Ottoman geography. In 1854 he took a position as professor of Geography at the University of Berlin and for nearly 50 years was considered the go-to man with regard to the cartography of classical and biblical antiquity. Kiepert died in Berlin on April 21 of 1899. Learn More...

Simon Schropp (fl. c. 1742 - present) was a German cartographer and bookseller active in Berlin during the 18th and 19th centuries. In April of 1742 Schropp received permission from the Prussian King Frederick II to make and sell maps in Berlin. Frederick was keenly aware of the lack of accurate cartographic knowledge regarding his kingdom and promoted both public and private cartographic efforts accordingly. By the late 18th century Schropp had become Berlin's most prominent publisher of maps and atlases. Schropp's royal mandate and allowed him access to some of Prussia's leading cartographic figures, including Daniel Sotzmann, the Royal Geographer, among other. His maps thus contained the most updated cartographic knowledge and were considered to be of the highest caliber. Despite wars, French occupation of Berlin, Schropp thrived. Schropp and Company remains alive and well today. Their original location Konigsstrasse and Heilige Geiststrasse was destroyed in a bomb during the final days of World War II, but their new location on Hardenbergstr, 9a, is a thriving business catering to the travel and tourism literature market. Learn More...