1841 S.D.U.K. Subscriber's Edition Map of the Western Hemisphere and Eastern Hemisphere - set of 2 m
EasternWesternHemisphere-sduk-1841
Title
1841 (dated) 14.5 x 13.5 in (36.83 x 34.29 cm) 1 : 64000000
Description
The map of the Western Hemisphere covers North America, South America, West Indies and most of Polynesia, including New Zealand. The Antarctic continent, first sighted in 1820, but neglected during the first half of the 19th century, does not appear on the map.
The map of the Eastern Hemisphere includes the entirety of Asia, Europe and Africa as well as Australia and much of the Pacific. The interior of Australia is largely blank though the coastal colonies are noted. These include Mediterranean North Africa, Egypt, Abyssinia, the western Niger valley, the Congo, South Africa, and the lands of Mozambique and Zimbabwe.
This map is part of A Series of Maps, Modern and Ancient, issued by subscription. Each folder in the series would contain a set of two maps bound together. These two maps were issued in folder no. XCII. Original folder includes the names of committee members of the ‘Society’, maps already published, the contents and the printer and publication details. These maps were engraved by J. and C. Walker. This folder was printed by William Clowes and Sons for the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge in their September 30, 1841 subscriber’s edition folder. The folder at the time was priced at 1 shilling plain or 1 shilling 6 pence for colored maps.
CartographerS
The "Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge" was a Whiggish organization founded in 1828 at the instigation of idealistic British lord Henry Peter Brougham. The admirable goal of the Society was to distribute useful information via a series of publications to the English working and middle classes. It promoted self-education and the egalitarian sharing of all knowledge. While closely tied to the London University and publishing houses on the order of Baldwin and Cradock, Chapman and Hall, and Charles Knight, the Society failed to achieve its many lofty goals in finally closed its doors in 1848. Most likely the failure of the Society resulted from its publications being too expensive for its intended lower to middle class markets and yet not large and fine enough to appeal to the aristocratic market. Nonetheless, it did manage to publish several extraordinary atlases of impressive detail and sophistication. Their most prominent atlas consisted of some 200 separately issued maps initially published by Baldwin and Cradock and sold by subscription from 1829 to 1844. Afterwards, the Society combined the maps into a single world atlas published under the Chapman and Hall imprint. In its day, this atlas was unprecedented in its quality, scope, and cost effectiveness. Today Society, or S.D.U.K. as it is commonly known, maps are among the most impressive examples of mid-19th century English mass market cartographic publishing available. The S.D.U.K. is especially known for its beautiful and accurately detailed city plans.
John Walker, Alexander Walker and Charles Walker, known collectively as J & C Walker (active 1820-95), were engravers, draughtsmen and publishers working through the 19th century. They had several offices 47 Bernard St Russel Sq (from 1830 - 1836), 3 Burleigh St Strand (from 1837 to 1840), 9 Castle St Holborn (from 1841 to 1847) and 37 Castle St Holborn (from 1848 to 1875). The firm is best known for its work in conjunction with the maps issued by the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge or, as it is more commonly known, the S.D.U.K. However, they also engraved a large corpus of work for the British Admiralty , as well as issuing several important maps of India and multiple issues of the Royal Atlas.