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1850 Perthes Map of the Northern South America
SouthAmericaNorth-perthes-1854$50.00
Title
Sud-America in zwei Blatten.
1850 (dated) 14 x 17 in (35.56 x 43.18 cm)
1850 (dated) 14 x 17 in (35.56 x 43.18 cm)
Description
This is a fascinating example of the 1850 Justus Perthes map of the northern part of South America. It covers the northern part of the continent including Panama, New Granada, Venezuela, ecuador, Peru, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile and Guyana. Shows Bolivia's claims to the Atacama Desert and a narrow strip of land along the Pacific coast – valuable territory that was subsequently lost to Chile and Peru. Perthes' map is highly detailed with both political and physical data. Various cities, mountains, roads, rivers and an assortment of additional topographical details are noted.
Much of South America was, at this time, embroiled in or about to become embroiled in, severe civil strife. The new nations, freed from Spanish dominance though various wars of liberation in the previous decades, were struggling with their newfound independence in an attempt create stable and prosperous governments. Most dissolved into civil war between 1858 and 1864.
Political and regional borders are highlighted in outline color. Unlike other cartographic publishers of the period, the Justus Perthes firm did not transition to lithographic printing techniques. Instead, all of their maps are copper plate engravings and hence offer a level of character and depth of detail that was impossible to find in lithography or wax-process engraving. All text is in German. Issued as plate no. 49b in the 1854 edition of Stieler's Hand-Atlas.
Much of South America was, at this time, embroiled in or about to become embroiled in, severe civil strife. The new nations, freed from Spanish dominance though various wars of liberation in the previous decades, were struggling with their newfound independence in an attempt create stable and prosperous governments. Most dissolved into civil war between 1858 and 1864.
Political and regional borders are highlighted in outline color. Unlike other cartographic publishers of the period, the Justus Perthes firm did not transition to lithographic printing techniques. Instead, all of their maps are copper plate engravings and hence offer a level of character and depth of detail that was impossible to find in lithography or wax-process engraving. All text is in German. Issued as plate no. 49b in the 1854 edition of Stieler's Hand-Atlas.
CartographerS
Johan Georg Justus Perthes (September 11, 1749 - May 2, 1816) was one of the most important German cartographic engravers of the 19th century. He was born in the Thuringian town of Rudolstadt, the son of a court physician. In 1778, he began working as a bookseller in Gotha. Perthes began his publishing empire shortly thereafter with the 1784 issue of the famed survey of European nobility known as the Almanac de Gotha. In the next year, 1785, he founded the cartographic firm of Justus Perthes Geographische Anstalt Gotha. His son Wilhelm Perthes (1793 - 1853) joined the firm in 1814. Wilhelm had prior publishing experience at the firm of Justus Perthes' nephew, Friedrich Christoph Perthes, who ran a publishing house in Hamburg. After Justus Perthes died in 1816, Wilhelm took charge and laid the groundwork for the firm to become a cartographic publishing titan. From 1817 to 1890. the Perthes firm issued thousands of maps and more than 20 different atlases. Along with the visionary editors Hermann Berghaus (1797 - 1884), Adolph Stieler (1775 - 1836), and Karl Spruner (1803 - 1892), the Perthes firm pioneered the Hand Atlas. When Wilhelm retired, management of the firm passed to his son, Bernhardt Wilhelm Perthes (1821 – 1857). Bernhardt brought on the cartographic geniuses August Heinrich Peterman (1822 - 1878) and Bruno Hassenstein (1839 - 1902). The firm was subsequently passed to a fourth generation in the form of Berhanrd Perthes (1858 – 1919), Bernhard Wilhelm's son. The firm continued in the family until 1953 when, being in East Germany, it was nationalized and run as a state-owned enterprise as VEB Hermann Haack Geographisch-Kartographische Anstalt Gotha. The Justus family, led by Joachim Justus Perthes and his son Wolf-Jürgen Perthes, relocated to Darmstadt where they founded the Justus Perthes Geographische Verlagsanstalt Darmstadt. More by this mapmaker...
Adolf Stieler (1775 – 1836) was a German cartographer who worked most of his life in the Justus Perthes Geographical Institute in Gotha. His atlases are deservedly held in high esteem for their excellence. His Handatlas was the leading German world atlas until the middle of the 20th century, parts of which were printed until 1944. Learn More...
Source
Stieler, A., Stieler's Hand-Atlas (Germany: Perthes) 1854.
Condition
Very good. Some wear on original centerfold. Original platemark visible. Blank on verso.