1841 Olney Polar Projection Map of the World

This is a fascinating 1841 Jesse Olney polar projection world map reflecting the educational, geographical, and religious values of mid-19th century America.

A Closer Look

The northern and southern hemispheres are presented to the left and right; these are annotated with data reflecting world knowledge in the first half of the 19th century. For example, Antarctica is not indicated, but the South Shetland Islands, discovered in 1819, do appear. The presentation of the Arctic seas suggest the possibility of a Northeast Passage. Two subordinate circular tables in the upper left and right show the longitudes of important locations around the globe, and the time difference between those locations, respectively. The bottom of the map is dominated by a chronological chart illustrating the prevalence of Christianity worldwide, as opposed to Islam and Paganism. The wash color of the table heading corresponds to the coloring on the corresponding regions of the map.

Olney the Educator

Designed for inclusion in Olney's school geographical atlas, this map conforms to that author's intent to teach geographical ideas rooted in matter which closely related to that of his student audience. His model was to start with areas that were concrete and local for the learner, and to gradually address broader and more abstract concepts. This is the reason for the use of a polar projection here: by presenting the globe's lines of longitude as seen from the poles, the mapmaker was able to clearly note the time on the globe relative to noon at Greenwich; for the typical school student, a practical understanding of the reckoning of time and the impact of the sphericality of the globe on that reckoning would be an essential takeaway. Geography was traditionally taught in the opposite fashion: beginning with astronomy and the solar system, and working down regional specifics.

The Progress of Christianity

Olney was an active Unitarian and embraced the religious ferment of 19th century America. Such an explicitly religious statement in a school textbook as is represented in the table - expressing the 'progress' of Christianity worldwide in opposition to paganism and Islam - reflected the widespread belief that once the world was fully Christianized - the Second Coming would follow.

Publication History and Census

This map was executed for inclusion in the 1841 edition of Olney's New and Improved School Atlas. The book is well represented in institutional collections, but this state of the separate map does not appear in OCLC. Earlier examples of the map with the same title in some cases lack the subordinate time/longitude diagrams, and some also lack the religious table at bottom.