1851 Tallis and Rapkin Map of Victoria (with Gold Deposits), Australia

Scarce map showing Australian Gold Discoveries.

This is a scarce 1851 map of Victoria or Port Phillip, Australia by John Tallis. The map covers Victoria from Discovery Bay east past Melbourne to Mallacoota (Mallagoota). It also extends a considerable distance inland despite the region being only tenuously mapped. Victoria on this map is identified as 'Australia Felix' (the early name given to the lush green pastures of western Victoria). This map was issued in the same year as Victoria became an independent colony separate from New South Wales in July, 1851. This year also marked the beginning of the Australian gold rush, which would attract a large number of international immigrants, tripling its population within the next 20 years. The gold digging sites are marked in yellow throughout. The map includes beautiful illustrations by H. Warren depicting, Melbourne, the River Glenelg, a kangaroo and indigenous people or Aborigines. The whole has the highly decorative presentation and elaborate border distinctive of Tallis maps. This map was issued as part of the 1851 edition of John Tallis and Company's The Illustrated Atlas, And Modern History of the World.

Cartographer

John Tallis (November 7, 1817 - June 3, 1876) was an English map publisher and bookseller. Born in Stourbridge, Worcestershire, he worked in his father's Birmingham agency from 1836 to 1842. Around 1838, Tallis published a collection of London Street Views and entered into a partnership with his brother Frederick Tallis from 1842 to 1849. Tallis and Company also published the Illustrated Atlas of the World (1849). Also in 1849, Tallis traveled to New York City, where he established agencies in 6 American cities. After returning from New York, Tallis paid his brother £10,000 for his share of the business and subsequently operated as John Tallis and Company until 1854. By 1853, John Tallis and Company had agencies in 26 cities in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada and employed over 500 people. On February 24, 1854, Tallis brought on a new partner, Ephraim Tipton Brain (1791 - 1876), forming the London Printing and Publishing Company. After a series of setbacks, however, Tallis had to sell his estate and by 1861 was declared bankrupt. Friends and former employees kept him afloat, but none of his 'various ambitious projects' proved lucrative. Tallis married Jane Ball on December 6, 1836, in Birmingham, and they lived together until she died in 1862. Tallis remarried on June 27, 1863, to Mary Stephens, with whom he had two children.   Further Details...

Source

Tallis, J. and F., The Illustrated Atlas, And Modern History Of The World Geographical, Political, Commercial & Statistical, 1851.    

Condition

Very good. Blank on verso.

References

Rumsey 0466.053. Phillips (Atlases) 804.