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Hand color map. Shows political boundaries and possessions of European in South Asia. Relief shown by hachures. Includes explanation., New edition of the classic and universal atlas of ancient and modern geography. Edited and published by J. Andriveau-Goujon in 1863. Adopted by the Minister of War for regimental libraries. Containing 50 plates, 49 hand double page or folding maps, dated 1854-1863, and 1 plate includes Flags of the nations. Some maps on 2 or more plates. Maps showing the most recent exploration, discoveries, and historical work on geography, political and administrative boundaries, major cities, villages, forts, coastal cities, canals, rivers and mountains. Includes descriptive text. In and mountains. Relief shown by hachures and pictorially. Plate 21 has been repeated (21 & 21A) bound after plate 22. Atlas contains descriptive text and index. Handwritten label in pencil indicating the title. Bound in quarter leather brown marbled paper covered boards with a green paper label reading "Atlas classique & universel de geographie ancienne et moderne. Publie par J. Andriveau-Goujon." The spine is embossed with "Andriveau. Atlas universel" in gilt.

"This is an extraordinary privately assembled encyclopaedia, focused on Mecca as the Navel of the World. Written in manuscript in thin black and red pens in Ottoman language, it contains over 580 pages of manuscript in tiny characters, sometimes accompanied with charts, over 380 manuscript maps, made with extreme care in precision in colours and with gold and silver highlights, over 225 prints from magazines, books, atlases and other sources from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, often joined in collages and compositions with hand-drawn maps. The maps are made with a greatest precision in well planned configuration. The colours are carefully applied to give an instant effect of a modern data visualisation. The gilt highlights and small details in black ink express the author’s endless patience and dedication to the project. The manuscripts, maps and illustrations are tastefully and carefully joined together thematically in foldouts and pamphlets, bound together with linen or paper stripes or strings. Shorter subjects and uncut plates also appear as separate leaves. We could count 217 such separate units. The whole collection is housed in three charming boxes, possibly made by the author from commercial boxes and leftovers of the linen, which he used for drawings of some of the maps. The anonymous author, doubtless a Muslim intellectual, took the information from the contemporary sources and atlases and smartly combined them in his own unique compositions. He also often added his own annotations, colouring and keys to the prints, which he took from the books and magazines. The manuscripts give an impression of a coherent collection, which was probably never meant for a publication. It was possibly an author private project, to which he dedicated years or decades of his life. It is possible that the collection was meant for a private education. Focus on Mecca The maps with geographic, historic and thematic data focus on the Arabian Peninsula with Mecca as a center. Throughout the series the city is often smartly positioned in the middle of the folds, to give the impression, that the world and around it opens like a flower. In the collection we could trace approximately 23 maps, where Mecca is represented in the central point of the world, 24 maps showcasing only the Arabian Peninsula or parts of it or / and the Red Sea, circa 25 maps of Mecca or/and its surroundings and sketches of the Kaaba and 11 views and prints of Mecca. The latter ones have been taken from other publications and integrated into the encyclopaedia by the author. Medina is represented with two manuscript maps and 8 views. The views here are as well taken from other publications. Separate pamphlets also focus on the history of the Arabian Peninsula and the history of its inhabitants with a chart on the tribes of Arabia. With this work the author geographically represented Mecca as the central point, a navel of the global culture and history from the ancient times up to the present days. Other Subjects The pamphlets and fold-outs are bound together thematically and represent the cultures, history and geography of the World from its beginnings until the early 20th century. The manuscript units with maps, charts and illustrations describe subjects such as geology, time through the Ottoman time charts, astronomy and astrology, ancient cultures and monuments (Babylon, Mesopotamia, Ancient Greece, Baalbek etc.), old geographic representations, such as Tabula Peutingeriana and parts of Fra Mauro’s map, America on old maps, discoveries on America and later discoveries and explorations, thematic maps of the world and parts of the world etc. A large portion of the maps is dedicated to the Mediterranean Basement (ca 152 maps) and the Balkans, with the large Ottoman battles. The other maps focus on Asia, America (ca 5 maps of North America, 2 maps of Central America), other continents and the whole world (27 maps of the world). The author seems unattached an ambivalent to Istanbul and Turkey, as the region is almost neglected in the manuscripts, which is the opposite of the contemporary glorification of the newly founded Turkey and the magnificent history of Istanbul. Also hardly represented are the African regions, including the Muslim ones. It is possible, that the author spent most of his life on the Arabian Peninsula and was not attached to the cultural and political center Istanbul. Authorship and Date The author of the work is not signed, neither are the maps dated. According to the attached note, the collection was allegedly connected with the family of the Turkish writer Ahmed Cemil Akıncı (1914-1984). His father and a possible author, Abdürrahim Hilmi Bey (Sipahizâde) was of Sipahi origins from Rumelia and was educated at the Fatih Madrasa in Istanbul. Hilmi Bey was in charge for the railway and education in Egypt, Palestine, Syria and Hejaz, where he spent a large part of his life. This would explain the author’s unattachment to Istanbul and Turkey. The paper, style and material of the boxes indicate the late 1910s and 1920s. Some of the maps confirm this period of time: a series of thematic world maps (possibly drafted after a contemporary Ottoman atlas) showcase the world in 1915 (1331 Rumi years). An illustration from a magazine, representing a map A Child’s Map of the Ancient World, by Alice York and Ilonka Karasz, was published in 1926. It is the youngest dated document, which we could trace in the collection. References: Unrecorded. [S. l., s. d. Possibly Ottoman Empire / Turkey, late 1910s-1920s]. A magnificent hand-written privately assembled encyclopaedia of the World, affectionately assembled and curated by an enlightened Muslim scholar in the last years of the Ottoman Empire, with over 580 text pages and 380 hand drawn detailed maps with gilt highlights, represents Mecca as the Navel of the World and the connecting point between the ancient civilisations and culture and the modern East and West. Collation: 3 red privately custom-made boxes, constructed of thick card with red linen surface with debossed lettering and decoration, patterned paper mounted inside, each with a black cloth loop with a knot, edges originally reinforced with linen, some linen parts with details of manuscript maps, 9 x 14 x 20 cm (3.5 x 5.5 x 7.8 inches). The boxes contain: - 217 separate units of fold-outs (leporellos), pamphlets and maps composed of sheets of paper, privately joined with straps of linen, sporadically also with stripes of paper or bound together with a sting. Most units with 4-8 pp., but also single sheet units and pamphlets with up to 16 pp. manuscript text. Most of the text accompanied with manuscript maps, mostly mounted verso. Some manuscript maps on loose linen waxed paper. Also includes sporadic single prints from books and magazines and postcards, not edited by the author. - The 217 units include: - - Over 580 manuscript text pages, some with charts in text, plus additional text comments and keys. Black and red ink on paper of various quality and thick card, each 18 x 11,5 cm (7 x 4.5 inches) when folded. - - More than 380 manuscript maps, including multiple maps on one sheet and folding maps. The maps are mostly mounted or drawn on cards on the inner side of the fold-outs and pamphlets, on the back of the text sheets. Some manuscript maps on loose waxed linen paper sheets. Most of the maps are ornated with gilt highlights. Black, purple and red ink and water colours on paper and linen paper, from 18 x 11,5 cm to 18 x 44 cm (7 x 4.5 inches to 7 x 17.3 inches), mostly mounted on the back of text pages, but also loose sheets. - - More than 225 prints, mostly mounted in compositions with maps, pictorial panels and more than 35 collages. The prints of various, mostly small sizes include maps, lithographs, chromolithographs, steel engravings, wood-cuts, postcards (cut and uncut), photo-reproductions, illustrations from books and magazines etc. Some prints (mostly illustrations from books and postcards) are added as unedited and uncut sheets. The prints have been taken from mostly Ottoman, but also German, French and English publications. Various techniques, some with manuscript annotations in black ink or with hand colour. - Additional unsorted sheets of manuscript and illustrations. Condition report: Boxes with some staining and minor wear on the edges, manuscripts and maps overall in a good clean condition with minor staining, foxing and wear. Sporadic maps and manuscripts are left unfinished." (Alexander Johnson and Dasa Pahor, 2020)

First edition of Arrowsmith atlas published in 1817. Although the maps are not large, they are dense with information. This complete atlas features index and 53 copperplate maps, drawn by Arrowsmith and engraved by Sidney Hall, with a few engraved by Thomson in collaboration with Hall. The maps include two world, 29 related to Europe and Scandinavia, 16 on Asia, Africa, and Oceania, and six related to the Americas. The United States map shows Georgia extending from the coast to the Mississippi River. The area west of the Mississippi is blank and labeled Louisiana. Engraved title page has Atlas holding the globe above two putti, one sailing a dingy, the other engaged in cartographic studies with a globe, map and dividers. Hardbound with marbled paper and original paper label printed with "Arrowsmith's New General Atlas Comprehended in Fifty three Maps From Original Drawings. Price L 2,12,6. coloured". Black leather spine has a label embossed with "Atlas (18)17" in gilt. Maps have original outline color, with many tissue guards still in place., First edition of Arrowsmith atlas published in 1817. This complete atlas features index and 53 copperplate maps, drawn by Arrowsmith and engraved by Sidney Hall, with a few engraved by Thomson in collaboration with Hall. The maps include two world, 29 related to Europe and Scandinavia, 16 on Asia, Africa, and Oceania, and six related to the Americas. The United States map shows Georgia extending from the coast to the Mississippi River. The area west of the Mississippi is blank and labeled Louisiana. Engraved title page has Atlas holding the globe above two putti, one sailing a dingy, the other engaged in cartographic studies with a globe, map and dividers. Hardbound with marbled paper and original paper label printed with "Arrowsmith's New General Atlas Comprehended in Fifty three Maps From Original Drawings. Price L 2,12,6. coloured". Black leather spine has a label embossed with "Atlas (18)17" in gilt. Maps have original outline color, with many tissue guards still in place.

Full col. Relief shown by hachures. Prime meridian: Paris. On globe in cartouche: Sphericite de la terre., This atlas is exceptional for its "spheroidal" maps of the globe, showing the various continents and poles, shaded to give the effect of a sphere floating in space. The remaining maps are also very well executed and colored, mostly by hand, a few in colored litho. In recent years, this atlas has become rare in the trade. This is the only atlas that Garnier produced, according to Phillips. Tooley lists an 1860 edition. Covers are quarter leather marbled paper covered boards with a paper label; the burgundy leather spine is embossed with "F.A. Garnier. Atlas Universel et Spheroidal de Geographie" in gilt. On verso of half-title: Paris -- Imprimerie de P.-A. Bourdier et Cie., Rue Mazarine, 30., Phillips, 836.

Engraved outline hand color map. Relief shown pictorially., Cummings’ Atlas, published by Cummings and Hilliard. A very well printed edition of the same eight modern maps as the "School Atlas" (6th edition) plus thirteen ancient maps and a plan of the Temple of Jerusalem. Outline hand color maps, engraved by M. Butler, T. W. Wightman, and W. B. Annin. Showing political and administrative divisions, major cities and town, rivers, canals, lakes and mountains. Relief shown by hachures and pictorially. Prime meridian: Greenwich. The plate marks are clearer and the impressions much stronger and the paper better than the school atlas. The content on title page listing 2 fewer ancient maps. Covers are half leather, marbled paper covered boards with no title.

Case map of the Ottoman Empire. Colored lithograph on paper, sectioned and mounted on linen, which is folded and inserted within a case made of black board. Shows political boundaries, railroads and water routes, as well as ethnic divisions. Includes legend and three bar scales. Features a table: Erklärung häufiger geographischer Benennungen in den vier Hauptsprachen des Orients: Türkisch, Arabisch, Persisch, Ost-Slawisch, Russisch ... (= Explanation of common geographical names in the four main languages of the Orient: Turkish, Arabic, Persian, East Slavic, Russian.) Map 84 x 119 cm, on sheet 88 x 123 cm, folded to 31 x 22 cm, inside case 33 x 24 cm., Case map of the Ottoman Empire. Colored lithograph on paper, sectioned and mounted on linen, which is folded and inserted within a case made of black board, with title in gilt. Map 84 x 119 cm, on sheet 88 x 123 cm, folded to 31 x 22 cm, inside case 33 x 24 cm.

Map of Persia [Iran] and vicinity. Shows political boundaries, cities, railroads, topography, major lakes and drainage, coastlines and islands. Features historical note: Here Pr. A. Beekewitz with 3000 men were massacred by the Usbecks in 1717, according to Bruce. Relief shown with hachures. Includes latitudinal and longitudinal lines, as well as a compass rose and bar scale, given in British statute miles. Hand-colored engraving, including illustration of clouds behind title. Map is 22 x 27 cm, on sheet 26 x 34 cm., Pawley's minor atlas, published in London by G. and W. B. Whittaker, 1822. Bound in board, covered with faded red and blue marbled papers. End papers comprised of the same marbling, but not faded. With leather spine and corners. Gilded spine title: Pawley's minor atlas. Collation: 2° : [1] page, [2] plates, I-XXXVI, [XXXVII], XXXVIII-XLIII leaves of plates, [1] page. First and last pages are blank. Forty-three plates containing 43 maps. All double plates except for II-V. Engraved title page and index. Title page dated 1822; Index and all maps dated 1819, with the exception of the map on plate XVII, which is dated 1823. Maps dated 1819 have the imprint Pinnock & Co. Strand or Pinnock & Maunder Strand. Maps show political boundaries, cities, railroads, routes, topography, deserts, vegetation, major lakes and drainage, coastlines and islands. Maps of North America also feature the indigenous peoples living therein. Maps include latitudinal and longitudinal lines, as well as compass roses, bar scales and historical notes. Hand-colored engravings.

Lithographed. Relief shown with hachures.Map printed on lightweight paper and tipped., This is a unique copy of the Mitchell/Tanner Universal Atlas. Frederick Bourquin and his employer, Peter Duval, received a Third Premium Award from the Franklin Institute in November, 1848, for their achievement in transferring the Universal Atlas from copper plates to lithographic stones. The catalog of the exhibition lists it as "No. 52. Universal Atlas in folio, a most beautiful specimen of the art of transferring and lithographic printing, from the press of P.S. Duval, Philadelphia, transferred by Bourquin." This copy of the atlas was their submission to the Franklin Institute to be considered for the award. It is made up of sheets from the atlas, all uncolored, all oversized, and all taken from various editions of the atlas from 1846 to 1848 (one map is dated 1849, but we believe it was issued in late 1848). It appears that these sheets were offprints that remained in the lithographer's shop and that the atlas was made up from them. Atlas is bound in half leather marbled paper covered boards with leather label on the front reading "Atlas Transferred From Copper To And Printed From Stone By Frederick Bourquin." The atlas stayed with the Franklin Institute, each page having the Institute's stamp on it, and was eventually sold by the Institute in the mid twentieth century. There are several erasures of dates that are earlier than 1848 (perhaps an attempt to make the book seem up to date) and several erasures of Tanner's name (on the title page) to conform to the fact that in 1848 this was known as Mitchell's atlas. The map borders vary between the "Mitchell" and the "Tanner" borders. And the paper thickness and quality varies as well. These sheets may have been some of the first "pulls" of each map in the various 1846-48 editions. This is a fascinating compilation and throws light on the transition in printing from copper plate to lithographic stone., Ristow p. 311 (award actually received in 1848).

Detailed map, with outline colored boundaries. With a vignette "View of Mt. Ararat". The atlas is the second edition and includes the extra map of the Arctic and two extra maps of Australia. The text adds a section on Voyages of Discovery. Two additional maps are laid in, one of South America, the other of Mexico. Each map has a small vignette illustrating a subject related to the map. Half leather paper-covered boards with label pasted on front printed with title. Prime meridian is Greenwich. Relief shown pictorially., This is the second edition and includes the extra map of the Arctic and two extra maps of Australia. The text adds a section on Voyages of Discovery. Two additional maps are laid in, one of South America, the other of Mexico. Half leather paper-covered boards with label pasted on front printed with title., cfP6043.

View representing figures indigenous to current-day Iran, wearing their traditional attire. The background shows figures, camels with packs, buildings, and a hilly landscape. With text in German and French. Hand colored engraving. View is 9 x 9 cm, on card 10 x 9 cm. Appears in II. Asiatiques., Description de differens peuples remarquables des cinq parties du monde avec des figures representant leur costume national by Jean Wolfgang Müller and Jean George Klinger. Published by Klinger in Nuremberg, Germany, in 1807. Second edition. Title translates to: Description of different remarkable peoples from the five parts of the world with figures representing their national costume. Board game featuring one world map and one map each of Europe, Asia, Africa, North America and Australia, as well as views of specific indigenous groups for each of those five regions. The game is housed in a box, which is decorated with marbled papers and features a pasted-on, hand-colored engraving of a European explorer amidst a group of indigenous people, all surrounding the title cartouche. The box contains a booklet of descriptive text, world map, game board, 4-page sheet of instructions, and five slipcases, each housing a map of a continent with views of figures indigenous to specific regions, wearing their traditional attire. Each view is accompanied by captions in German and French. The accompanying booklet contains detailed descriptions of the attire, diet and lifestyle of each indigenous group depicted. Pagination: [I-III] IV-SVI, [1-2], 3-127 pages. The game was a collaboration between geographer Klinger and gamemnaker Müller. A German first edition was published in 1801, followed by this second edition in both German and French in 1807. Klinger (1764-1806) was a German map, globe and game maker active in Nuremberg during the early to mid-19th century. He was consider the most prominent globe maker of his generation. Müller (1765-1828) was a Nuremberg-based educator and publisher of playing cards and other games.

"Rare – the complete set of 12 connecting charts (that if joined would measure approx.. 2 x 4 metres!) showcasing the first scientific survey of the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers, the result of an incredible expedition led by Colonel Francis Rawson Chesney who traveled by steamboat 1,200 miles down the entire navigable length of the Euphrates, from Birecik, Turkey, down through Syria and Iraq, to the Persian Gulf, in order to prove the feasibility of a new short travel route between India and Britain; while the commercial exploitation of route never materialized, Chesney’s survey had a grand legacy, as its charts served as the authoritative source maps of the Euphrates an Tigris for decades, the blueprints for political, military and commercial activities and scientific and archaeological discovery – one of the great masterpieces of inland hydrography of the 19th century. In the 1830s, Britain was on the top of the world, having built a massive Asian empire consolidated upon its domination the Indian Subcontinent. However, it had a major challenge in that the established transport routes from Britain to India were either incredibly long (around the Cape of Good Hope) or unpleasant and dangerous (traversing Egypt’s Suez Isthmus overland and traveling down the pirate-infested Red Sea route). Enter Colonel (later General) Francis Rawson Chesney (1789 - 1872), an extremely enterprising British army officer. He politically well-connected, being the protégé of Lord Rawdon (later the 1st Marquess of Hastings) who served as the Governor-General of India (1813-23). In 1829, Chesney was sent on a special mission to the Ottoman Empire, whereupon he made many reconnaissance surveys. This led him to draft a well-reasoned proposal to build a canal across the Suez Isthmus that later proved highly influential (Ferdinand de Lesseps, who eventually completed the Suez Canal in 1869, addressed Chesney the “father” of the canal when they met in Paris). However, it was clear that during the 1830s the technical and financial resources, let alone the right political circumstances, were not right for building such a grand project. Chesney next prosed to the British government that they should consider creating a travel corridor from India to Europe via the Euphrates River, which ran for 2,800 from the highlands of eastern Anatolia down through the Syria and Iraq, before meeting the Tigris, forming the Shatt-al-Arab, before entering the Persian Gulf at the border of Ottoman Iraq and Persia. This river was known to be navigable for many hundreds of kilometres above the sea, while its tributary, the Tigris, was navigable up to Baghdad. As the relatively new technology of steamships was then revolutionizing global travel, he proposed that shallow draft steamships could be used to travel from the Persian Gulf up into Anatolia, and that from there passengers and freight could travel overland to the Mediterranean. Eventually, a railway could be built from the head of the navigation of the Euphrates to the Mediterranean, although that would be well into the future. Id realized, this plan would create by far and away the shortest distance travel route between India and Britain. The Euphrates route was also geopolitically convenient for London, as not only was the weak Ottoman Empire malleable (desperately seeking cooperation with Britain), but a British operation to protect a permanent travel route up through Mesopotamia and Anatolia would act as a deterrent to Russian aggression in the greater region (Britain and Russia were then squaring off in the first Cold War, ‘The Great Game’). While the Euphrates was then navigable for up to 1,200 miles above its embouchure, the Euphrates and Tigris had never been surveyed in serious, scientific fashion, such that the nature and extent of the navigability of these great streams was not known. Beginning in 1832, Chesney fiercely lobbied Whitehall for funds and resources to mount steamship expedition down the entire navigable length of the Euphrates, methodically mapping the river and its major tributaries, as well as conducting scientific and cultural research. Fortunately, he had friends in high places; it helped that King William IV, a career naval officer, was very enthusiastic about the project. In 1834, Chesney’s plan was approved by the government and Parliament voted to give £20,000 to find the project, then a very large sum. Two prefabricated steamboats of an ingenuous design, that could be disassembled and reconfigured, were custom-built for the expedition in Liverpool by the firm of John Laird. The vessels were fittingly named the Euphrates and the Tigris. Chesney managed to recruit an all-star team of military officers and scientists to guide the technical and academic aspects of the mission. This included the explorer Henry Blosse Lynch of the Indian Navy and the geologist William Francis Ainsworth, president of the Royal Physical Society of Edinburgh. He also assembled a crew from the Royal Artillery, Royal Sappers and Miners with professional skills and field experience in operating steam machinery, surveying and drawing. Chesney and his team were enthusiastic not just about mapping the Euphrates but also about the ethnographic, scientific and religious studies that the trip afforded, as “the country about the sources of the Euphrates and Tigris was the seat of [Biblical] Paradise!”. However, Lord Ellenbourgh, the president of the Board of Control for India, reminded the team that they should “always bear in mind that [the practicability of navigating the Euphrates] is the one object of your expedition, and that scientific inquiries, however interesting, are no to be allowed to detain you”. Chesney and his party set out from England for the Mediterranean early in 1835, arriving at the Gulf of Iskenderun, on the frontier of Anatolia and Syria, in March of that year. The men transported their equipment and the disassembled steamships over 140 miles of rough terrain to Bir (Birecik in modern Turkey), on the banks of the Euphrates. There, they created an improvised shipyard and assembled the vessels. They then set out down the river from a point that was about 1,200 miles above the sea. As the river’s course was little known, the trip proved extremely dangerous, as they had to negotiate a variety of hazards, even though navigable passages were always inevitably revealed. While Chesney was careful to maintain good relations with the Kurdish, Assyrian and Arab tribes that resided along the banks of the rivers (forging links that would be vital if a regular river transport corridor were to be opened), misunderstandings almost resulted in tragic altercations on several occasions. Worst of all, the Tigris was lost, vanishing during a sudden, freak storm, with it and its crew never to be seen again! Yet, the expedition persisted (fortunately Chesney and the principals of the expedition survived, as they were aboard the Euphrates). All along the way, Chesney and his men conducted exacting systematic hydrographic surveys to the highest standards. Geodetic basepoints at key junctures were ascertained by astronomical observations, while careful bathymetric soundings and accounts of the currents were taken. Observations were made of magnetic deviation and meteorology, while the party gathered geological, botanical and biological specimens. They also carefully recorded archeological sites, as well as taking careful notes on the local tribes, so executing the first comprehensive scientific reconnaissance of Mesopotamia. In addition to mapping the entire navigable length of the Euphrates from Birecik to the Persian Gulf, the party ascend the Tigris River for the Shatt-Al-Arab up to Baghdad, mapping the river with same care. Towards the end of the expedition, a side party ascended the Karun River, in Persia, which was major tributary of the Shatt-Al-Arab. The entire expedition was completed in early 1837. Critically, Chesney and his team had proved that the Euphrates was navigable for steamships from the Persian Gulf all the way up to Birecik, which was only 140 miles from the Mediterranean. This opened what was by far and away the shortest route from India to Britain (especially if a railway could someday be constructed between Birecik and Iskenderun). Chesney returned to London later in 1837, with has manuscript maps, watercolours, sketches and notes. His endeavor was immediately hailed as a tour de force, and many in government were highly enthusiastic about open the Euphrates India-Britain route. However, Britain soon became involved in the horrific disaster of the First Anglo-Afghan War (1839-42), which distracted the powers that be from pressing on with the Euphrates project. Moreover, for much of the 1840s, Chesney was deployed to serve in the Far East and so had trouble finding the spare time to work on publishing his maps and papers, let alone lobby for its advancement. Thus, the Euphrates plan remained ‘on ice’ during what was a decisive period. By the time that Chesney’s lavish account of the Euphrates expedition (including the present charts) were published in London in 1849-50, much of the momentum that once existed behind the Euphrates plan had dissipated. Ironically, it was Chesney’s 1829 feasibility study for the Suez Canal that ultimately killed his Euphrates plan, for his ideas for the former were adopted by his admirer Ferdinand de Lesseps who commenced the Suez Canal project in the 1850s, so rendering the Euphrates travel corridor obsolete (the Suez Canal would be inaugurated in 1869). However, Chesney’s endeavour had a long and consequential legacy, in that his charts of the Euphrates and Tigris remained the base maps for the rivers for many decades, used by government officials of various states, merchants, scientists, and archeologists, as the blueprints for great ventures and discoveries. Notably, in the 1860s, British soldiers, who were running the lines for the overland telegraph route from India to Europe through Iraq, used Chesney’s charts as guides. Indeed, on a technical level, his work would not be superseded until the early 20th century. Importantly, the Euphrates and Tigris had from the early 20th century onwards been, in parts, dammed, drained and redirected, in addition to any natural changes in their courses, so radically transforming their nature. Chesney’s charts this are incomparable records of a bygone era, showing the rivers’ former courses and what then remained of ancient Mesopotamian civilizations before unnumerable amazing archaeological sites were severely disturbed by modernity. The Present Charts in Focus Present here is a very rare complete set of the first printing of Chesney’s 12 connecting charts of the navigable stretches of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, representing one of the greatest technical achievements of inland hydrography of the 19th century. If joined, the sheets would form a mega-chart of irregular dimensions with approximate maximum measurements of 2 x 4 metres. A masterpiece of scientific surveying, the charts are all executed to the uniform large scale of 4 miles to an inch. They meticulously map the contours of the rivers, regulated by marked astronomical observations and trigonometrical surveys, while bathymetric soundings dot the navigable routes, with all major features, both natural (hills, swamps, headlands, etc.) and manmade (villages, major buildings, roads, etc.) being carefully depicted. The nature of the vegetation and agriculture (ex. farm fields, palm groves) is shown, while Chesney notes the locations of the various tribes that inhabit the banks of the rivers, critical information, as maintaining good relations with the locals would be vital to anyone seeking to traverse the region. The circumstances surrounding the publication of the charts is bit hazy, although there is evidence that the 12 charts, were issued separately by the eminent firm of J. & C. Walker, who was the official printer for the British Admiralty and the East India Company. However, they were more commonly issued along with Chesney’ text volumes, The Expedition for The Survey of The Rivers Euphrates and Tigris, Carried on by Order of The British Government, in The Years 1835, 1836, and 1837; Preceded by Geographical and Historical Notices of The Regions situated between The Rivers Nile and Indus (Published by Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans., London, 1850), as part of the accompanying atlas that featured “fourteen maps and charts, and embellished with ninety-seven plates, besides numerous wood-cuts”. The present set of the charts is beautifully backed on white silk and was perhaps a separately issued set. The charts, especially as a complete set of 12 sheets, only very seldom ever appear on the market (perhaps only once every ten years or so), either alone, or as part of the assembly of Chesney’s text volumes and atlas." (Alexander Johnson/Dasa Pahor, 2023), British Library: General Reference Collection 10025.f.21. and X.570.; OCLC: 316378697; Dorsey D. JONES, ‘Chesney Chose the Euphrates Route’, The Historian 5, no. 1 (1942), pp. 5–23. Full text Vol 1 Expedition https://archive.org/details/b30455121_0001/page/n13/mode/2up Full text Vol 2 Expedition https://archive.org/details/b30455121_0002/page/n11/mode/2up

Map of Middle East and Egypt. Bonne'sche Projektion., 1943. 22nd. Edition of Sydow-Wagner's methodical school atlas of the world. Edited by H. Haack and H. Lautensach. cartographically reviewed and revised by O. Stollt, published by Justus Perthes in Gotha, 1943. Contains 15 pages of text, and 61 double-page colored map pages, 59 main map and 258 secondary maps, in variable scales. Maps include color coded reference, text, legend, secondary title page, some with location map and index. Atlas consists of political and thematic maps, city plans and views. Showing political boundaries, major cities, towns, roads, railroads, telegraph cables, rivers, lakes shipping routes, distances, rivers and mountains. Also showing routes of voyages and discovery. Relief shown by hachures, spot heights and gradient tints. Depth shown by bathymetric tints, isolines and soundings. Prime meridian: Greenwich. Bound in hard cover green paper with linen spine and title “Sydow-Wagners methodischer Schul-Atlas, Justus Perthes”. Atlas accompanied by supplemental alphabetical index: “Namenverzeichniz” in 38 pages. In lower left: L/0998.

Map of Persia [present-day Iran]. Shows political boundaries, cities, railroads, topography, deserts, bodies of water, drainage, coastlines and islands. Relief shown with hachures. Includes latitudinal and longitudinal lines, as well as a bar scale given in miles. Provides figures for square milage and population. Map indexed to indicate place names. Colored lithograph. Map is 24 x 30 cm, on sheet 33 x 45 cm., Cram's standard American railway system atlas of the world, by George F. Cram; published in New York and Chicago, 1899. Bound in dark teal-colored board, which has been reinforced with duct tape. Front cover includes title, advertisement and "Index to United States, Canada and Mexico maps". With green floral end papers. Collation: 2° : [1-4], 5-510, 515-608, [1-42] pages. Atlas comprised of 231 maps, with geographic coverage of the United States as a whole and each of its fifty states, as well as Canada, Central America, South America, the West Indies, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa, the East Indies, Australia and New Zealand. Also, with several city maps, including San Francisco, New York, Philadelphia, Detroit, Atlanta, Dallas and Denver. Maps show political boundaries, counties, towns, Indian reservations, mines, railroads, roads, steamship lines, topography, bodies of water, drainage, coastlines, islands and water routes with distances. Some maps provide figures for square mileage and population. Volume includes title page, table of contents, and index pages associated with state maps, as well as 42 (unnumbered) pages with “Special list of attorneys in every banking town in the United States” and “Bank directory containing one or more principal banks and bankers in each city and town in the United States, who make a specialty of collections and general banking business”. According to the title, “Maps of the United States are the largest scale and clearest print of any maps published. Foreign maps are compiled largely from charts of the Royal Geographical Society and are geographically correct.” For the 1901 edition of the atlas, see Pub List No. 2809.000.

"Rare – the complete set of 12 connecting charts (that if joined would measure approx.. 2 x 4 metres!) showcasing the first scientific survey of the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers, the result of an incredible expedition led by Colonel Francis Rawson Chesney who traveled by steamboat 1,200 miles down the entire navigable length of the Euphrates, from Birecik, Turkey, down through Syria and Iraq, to the Persian Gulf, in order to prove the feasibility of a new short travel route between India and Britain; while the commercial exploitation of route never materialized, Chesney’s survey had a grand legacy, as its charts served as the authoritative source maps of the Euphrates an Tigris for decades, the blueprints for political, military and commercial activities and scientific and archaeological discovery – one of the great masterpieces of inland hydrography of the 19th century. In the 1830s, Britain was on the top of the world, having built a massive Asian empire consolidated upon its domination the Indian Subcontinent. However, it had a major challenge in that the established transport routes from Britain to India were either incredibly long (around the Cape of Good Hope) or unpleasant and dangerous (traversing Egypt’s Suez Isthmus overland and traveling down the pirate-infested Red Sea route). Enter Colonel (later General) Francis Rawson Chesney (1789 - 1872), an extremely enterprising British army officer. He politically well-connected, being the protégé of Lord Rawdon (later the 1st Marquess of Hastings) who served as the Governor-General of India (1813-23). In 1829, Chesney was sent on a special mission to the Ottoman Empire, whereupon he made many reconnaissance surveys. This led him to draft a well-reasoned proposal to build a canal across the Suez Isthmus that later proved highly influential (Ferdinand de Lesseps, who eventually completed the Suez Canal in 1869, addressed Chesney the “father” of the canal when they met in Paris). However, it was clear that during the 1830s the technical and financial resources, let alone the right political circumstances, were not right for building such a grand project. Chesney next prosed to the British government that they should consider creating a travel corridor from India to Europe via the Euphrates River, which ran for 2,800 from the highlands of eastern Anatolia down through the Syria and Iraq, before meeting the Tigris, forming the Shatt-al-Arab, before entering the Persian Gulf at the border of Ottoman Iraq and Persia. This river was known to be navigable for many hundreds of kilometres above the sea, while its tributary, the Tigris, was navigable up to Baghdad. As the relatively new technology of steamships was then revolutionizing global travel, he proposed that shallow draft steamships could be used to travel from the Persian Gulf up into Anatolia, and that from there passengers and freight could travel overland to the Mediterranean. Eventually, a railway could be built from the head of the navigation of the Euphrates to the Mediterranean, although that would be well into the future. Id realized, this plan would create by far and away the shortest distance travel route between India and Britain. The Euphrates route was also geopolitically convenient for London, as not only was the weak Ottoman Empire malleable (desperately seeking cooperation with Britain), but a British operation to protect a permanent travel route up through Mesopotamia and Anatolia would act as a deterrent to Russian aggression in the greater region (Britain and Russia were then squaring off in the first Cold War, ‘The Great Game’). While the Euphrates was then navigable for up to 1,200 miles above its embouchure, the Euphrates and Tigris had never been surveyed in serious, scientific fashion, such that the nature and extent of the navigability of these great streams was not known. Beginning in 1832, Chesney fiercely lobbied Whitehall for funds and resources to mount steamship expedition down the entire navigable length of the Euphrates, methodically mapping the river and its major tributaries, as well as conducting scientific and cultural research. Fortunately, he had friends in high places; it helped that King William IV, a career naval officer, was very enthusiastic about the project. In 1834, Chesney’s plan was approved by the government and Parliament voted to give £20,000 to find the project, then a very large sum. Two prefabricated steamboats of an ingenuous design, that could be disassembled and reconfigured, were custom-built for the expedition in Liverpool by the firm of John Laird. The vessels were fittingly named the Euphrates and the Tigris. Chesney managed to recruit an all-star team of military officers and scientists to guide the technical and academic aspects of the mission. This included the explorer Henry Blosse Lynch of the Indian Navy and the geologist William Francis Ainsworth, president of the Royal Physical Society of Edinburgh. He also assembled a crew from the Royal Artillery, Royal Sappers and Miners with professional skills and field experience in operating steam machinery, surveying and drawing. Chesney and his team were enthusiastic not just about mapping the Euphrates but also about the ethnographic, scientific and religious studies that the trip afforded, as “the country about the sources of the Euphrates and Tigris was the seat of [Biblical] Paradise!”. However, Lord Ellenbourgh, the president of the Board of Control for India, reminded the team that they should “always bear in mind that [the practicability of navigating the Euphrates] is the one object of your expedition, and that scientific inquiries, however interesting, are no to be allowed to detain you”. Chesney and his party set out from England for the Mediterranean early in 1835, arriving at the Gulf of Iskenderun, on the frontier of Anatolia and Syria, in March of that year. The men transported their equipment and the disassembled steamships over 140 miles of rough terrain to Bir (Birecik in modern Turkey), on the banks of the Euphrates. There, they created an improvised shipyard and assembled the vessels. They then set out down the river from a point that was about 1,200 miles above the sea. As the river’s course was little known, the trip proved extremely dangerous, as they had to negotiate a variety of hazards, even though navigable passages were always inevitably revealed. While Chesney was careful to maintain good relations with the Kurdish, Assyrian and Arab tribes that resided along the banks of the rivers (forging links that would be vital if a regular river transport corridor were to be opened), misunderstandings almost resulted in tragic altercations on several occasions. Worst of all, the Tigris was lost, vanishing during a sudden, freak storm, with it and its crew never to be seen again! Yet, the expedition persisted (fortunately Chesney and the principals of the expedition survived, as they were aboard the Euphrates). All along the way, Chesney and his men conducted exacting systematic hydrographic surveys to the highest standards. Geodetic basepoints at key junctures were ascertained by astronomical observations, while careful bathymetric soundings and accounts of the currents were taken. Observations were made of magnetic deviation and meteorology, while the party gathered geological, botanical and biological specimens. They also carefully recorded archeological sites, as well as taking careful notes on the local tribes, so executing the first comprehensive scientific reconnaissance of Mesopotamia. In addition to mapping the entire navigable length of the Euphrates from Birecik to the Persian Gulf, the party ascend the Tigris River for the Shatt-Al-Arab up to Baghdad, mapping the river with same care. Towards the end of the expedition, a side party ascended the Karun River, in Persia, which was major tributary of the Shatt-Al-Arab. The entire expedition was completed in early 1837. Critically, Chesney and his team had proved that the Euphrates was navigable for steamships from the Persian Gulf all the way up to Birecik, which was only 140 miles from the Mediterranean. This opened what was by far and away the shortest route from India to Britain (especially if a railway could someday be constructed between Birecik and Iskenderun). Chesney returned to London later in 1837, with has manuscript maps, watercolours, sketches and notes. His endeavor was immediately hailed as a tour de force, and many in government were highly enthusiastic about open the Euphrates India-Britain route. However, Britain soon became involved in the horrific disaster of the First Anglo-Afghan War (1839-42), which distracted the powers that be from pressing on with the Euphrates project. Moreover, for much of the 1840s, Chesney was deployed to serve in the Far East and so had trouble finding the spare time to work on publishing his maps and papers, let alone lobby for its advancement. Thus, the Euphrates plan remained ‘on ice’ during what was a decisive period. By the time that Chesney’s lavish account of the Euphrates expedition (including the present charts) were published in London in 1849-50, much of the momentum that once existed behind the Euphrates plan had dissipated. Ironically, it was Chesney’s 1829 feasibility study for the Suez Canal that ultimately killed his Euphrates plan, for his ideas for the former were adopted by his admirer Ferdinand de Lesseps who commenced the Suez Canal project in the 1850s, so rendering the Euphrates travel corridor obsolete (the Suez Canal would be inaugurated in 1869). However, Chesney’s endeavour had a long and consequential legacy, in that his charts of the Euphrates and Tigris remained the base maps for the rivers for many decades, used by government officials of various states, merchants, scientists, and archeologists, as the blueprints for great ventures and discoveries. Notably, in the 1860s, British soldiers, who were running the lines for the overland telegraph route from India to Europe through Iraq, used Chesney’s charts as guides. Indeed, on a technical level, his work would not be superseded until the early 20th century. Importantly, the Euphrates and Tigris had from the early 20th century onwards been, in parts, dammed, drained and redirected, in addition to any natural changes in their courses, so radically transforming their nature. Chesney’s charts this are incomparable records of a bygone era, showing the rivers’ former courses and what then remained of ancient Mesopotamian civilizations before unnumerable amazing archaeological sites were severely disturbed by modernity. The Present Charts in Focus Present here is a very rare complete set of the first printing of Chesney’s 12 connecting charts of the navigable stretches of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, representing one of the greatest technical achievements of inland hydrography of the 19th century. If joined, the sheets would form a mega-chart of irregular dimensions with approximate maximum measurements of 2 x 4 metres. A masterpiece of scientific surveying, the charts are all executed to the uniform large scale of 4 miles to an inch. They meticulously map the contours of the rivers, regulated by marked astronomical observations and trigonometrical surveys, while bathymetric soundings dot the navigable routes, with all major features, both natural (hills, swamps, headlands, etc.) and manmade (villages, major buildings, roads, etc.) being carefully depicted. The nature of the vegetation and agriculture (ex. farm fields, palm groves) is shown, while Chesney notes the locations of the various tribes that inhabit the banks of the rivers, critical information, as maintaining good relations with the locals would be vital to anyone seeking to traverse the region. The circumstances surrounding the publication of the charts is bit hazy, although there is evidence that the 12 charts, were issued separately by the eminent firm of J. & C. Walker, who was the official printer for the British Admiralty and the East India Company. However, they were more commonly issued along with Chesney’ text volumes, The Expedition for The Survey of The Rivers Euphrates and Tigris, Carried on by Order of The British Government, in The Years 1835, 1836, and 1837; Preceded by Geographical and Historical Notices of The Regions situated between The Rivers Nile and Indus (Published by Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans., London, 1850), as part of the accompanying atlas that featured “fourteen maps and charts, and embellished with ninety-seven plates, besides numerous wood-cuts”. The present set of the charts is beautifully backed on white silk and was perhaps a separately issued set. The charts, especially as a complete set of 12 sheets, only very seldom ever appear on the market (perhaps only once every ten years or so), either alone, or as part of the assembly of Chesney’s text volumes and atlas." (Alexander Johnson/Dasa Pahor, 2023), British Library: General Reference Collection 10025.f.21. and X.570.; OCLC: 316378697; Dorsey D. JONES, ‘Chesney Chose the Euphrates Route’, The Historian 5, no. 1 (1942), pp. 5–23. Full text Vol 1 Expedition https://archive.org/details/b30455121_0001/page/n13/mode/2up Full text Vol 2 Expedition https://archive.org/details/b30455121_0002/page/n11/mode/2up

"Rare – the complete set of 12 connecting charts (that if joined would measure approx.. 2 x 4 metres!) showcasing the first scientific survey of the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers, the result of an incredible expedition led by Colonel Francis Rawson Chesney who traveled by steamboat 1,200 miles down the entire navigable length of the Euphrates, from Birecik, Turkey, down through Syria and Iraq, to the Persian Gulf, in order to prove the feasibility of a new short travel route between India and Britain; while the commercial exploitation of route never materialized, Chesney’s survey had a grand legacy, as its charts served as the authoritative source maps of the Euphrates an Tigris for decades, the blueprints for political, military and commercial activities and scientific and archaeological discovery – one of the great masterpieces of inland hydrography of the 19th century. In the 1830s, Britain was on the top of the world, having built a massive Asian empire consolidated upon its domination the Indian Subcontinent. However, it had a major challenge in that the established transport routes from Britain to India were either incredibly long (around the Cape of Good Hope) or unpleasant and dangerous (traversing Egypt’s Suez Isthmus overland and traveling down the pirate-infested Red Sea route). Enter Colonel (later General) Francis Rawson Chesney (1789 - 1872), an extremely enterprising British army officer. He politically well-connected, being the protégé of Lord Rawdon (later the 1st Marquess of Hastings) who served as the Governor-General of India (1813-23). In 1829, Chesney was sent on a special mission to the Ottoman Empire, whereupon he made many reconnaissance surveys. This led him to draft a well-reasoned proposal to build a canal across the Suez Isthmus that later proved highly influential (Ferdinand de Lesseps, who eventually completed the Suez Canal in 1869, addressed Chesney the “father” of the canal when they met in Paris). However, it was clear that during the 1830s the technical and financial resources, let alone the right political circumstances, were not right for building such a grand project. Chesney next prosed to the British government that they should consider creating a travel corridor from India to Europe via the Euphrates River, which ran for 2,800 from the highlands of eastern Anatolia down through the Syria and Iraq, before meeting the Tigris, forming the Shatt-al-Arab, before entering the Persian Gulf at the border of Ottoman Iraq and Persia. This river was known to be navigable for many hundreds of kilometres above the sea, while its tributary, the Tigris, was navigable up to Baghdad. As the relatively new technology of steamships was then revolutionizing global travel, he proposed that shallow draft steamships could be used to travel from the Persian Gulf up into Anatolia, and that from there passengers and freight could travel overland to the Mediterranean. Eventually, a railway could be built from the head of the navigation of the Euphrates to the Mediterranean, although that would be well into the future. Id realized, this plan would create by far and away the shortest distance travel route between India and Britain. The Euphrates route was also geopolitically convenient for London, as not only was the weak Ottoman Empire malleable (desperately seeking cooperation with Britain), but a British operation to protect a permanent travel route up through Mesopotamia and Anatolia would act as a deterrent to Russian aggression in the greater region (Britain and Russia were then squaring off in the first Cold War, ‘The Great Game’). While the Euphrates was then navigable for up to 1,200 miles above its embouchure, the Euphrates and Tigris had never been surveyed in serious, scientific fashion, such that the nature and extent of the navigability of these great streams was not known. Beginning in 1832, Chesney fiercely lobbied Whitehall for funds and resources to mount steamship expedition down the entire navigable length of the Euphrates, methodically mapping the river and its major tributaries, as well as conducting scientific and cultural research. Fortunately, he had friends in high places; it helped that King William IV, a career naval officer, was very enthusiastic about the project. In 1834, Chesney’s plan was approved by the government and Parliament voted to give £20,000 to find the project, then a very large sum. Two prefabricated steamboats of an ingenuous design, that could be disassembled and reconfigured, were custom-built for the expedition in Liverpool by the firm of John Laird. The vessels were fittingly named the Euphrates and the Tigris. Chesney managed to recruit an all-star team of military officers and scientists to guide the technical and academic aspects of the mission. This included the explorer Henry Blosse Lynch of the Indian Navy and the geologist William Francis Ainsworth, president of the Royal Physical Society of Edinburgh. He also assembled a crew from the Royal Artillery, Royal Sappers and Miners with professional skills and field experience in operating steam machinery, surveying and drawing. Chesney and his team were enthusiastic not just about mapping the Euphrates but also about the ethnographic, scientific and religious studies that the trip afforded, as “the country about the sources of the Euphrates and Tigris was the seat of [Biblical] Paradise!”. However, Lord Ellenbourgh, the president of the Board of Control for India, reminded the team that they should “always bear in mind that [the practicability of navigating the Euphrates] is the one object of your expedition, and that scientific inquiries, however interesting, are no to be allowed to detain you”. Chesney and his party set out from England for the Mediterranean early in 1835, arriving at the Gulf of Iskenderun, on the frontier of Anatolia and Syria, in March of that year. The men transported their equipment and the disassembled steamships over 140 miles of rough terrain to Bir (Birecik in modern Turkey), on the banks of the Euphrates. There, they created an improvised shipyard and assembled the vessels. They then set out down the river from a point that was about 1,200 miles above the sea. As the river’s course was little known, the trip proved extremely dangerous, as they had to negotiate a variety of hazards, even though navigable passages were always inevitably revealed. While Chesney was careful to maintain good relations with the Kurdish, Assyrian and Arab tribes that resided along the banks of the rivers (forging links that would be vital if a regular river transport corridor were to be opened), misunderstandings almost resulted in tragic altercations on several occasions. Worst of all, the Tigris was lost, vanishing during a sudden, freak storm, with it and its crew never to be seen again! Yet, the expedition persisted (fortunately Chesney and the principals of the expedition survived, as they were aboard the Euphrates). All along the way, Chesney and his men conducted exacting systematic hydrographic surveys to the highest standards. Geodetic basepoints at key junctures were ascertained by astronomical observations, while careful bathymetric soundings and accounts of the currents were taken. Observations were made of magnetic deviation and meteorology, while the party gathered geological, botanical and biological specimens. They also carefully recorded archeological sites, as well as taking careful notes on the local tribes, so executing the first comprehensive scientific reconnaissance of Mesopotamia. In addition to mapping the entire navigable length of the Euphrates from Birecik to the Persian Gulf, the party ascend the Tigris River for the Shatt-Al-Arab up to Baghdad, mapping the river with same care. Towards the end of the expedition, a side party ascended the Karun River, in Persia, which was major tributary of the Shatt-Al-Arab. The entire expedition was completed in early 1837. Critically, Chesney and his team had proved that the Euphrates was navigable for steamships from the Persian Gulf all the way up to Birecik, which was only 140 miles from the Mediterranean. This opened what was by far and away the shortest route from India to Britain (especially if a railway could someday be constructed between Birecik and Iskenderun). Chesney returned to London later in 1837, with has manuscript maps, watercolours, sketches and notes. His endeavor was immediately hailed as a tour de force, and many in government were highly enthusiastic about open the Euphrates India-Britain route. However, Britain soon became involved in the horrific disaster of the First Anglo-Afghan War (1839-42), which distracted the powers that be from pressing on with the Euphrates project. Moreover, for much of the 1840s, Chesney was deployed to serve in the Far East and so had trouble finding the spare time to work on publishing his maps and papers, let alone lobby for its advancement. Thus, the Euphrates plan remained ‘on ice’ during what was a decisive period. By the time that Chesney’s lavish account of the Euphrates expedition (including the present charts) were published in London in 1849-50, much of the momentum that once existed behind the Euphrates plan had dissipated. Ironically, it was Chesney’s 1829 feasibility study for the Suez Canal that ultimately killed his Euphrates plan, for his ideas for the former were adopted by his admirer Ferdinand de Lesseps who commenced the Suez Canal project in the 1850s, so rendering the Euphrates travel corridor obsolete (the Suez Canal would be inaugurated in 1869). However, Chesney’s endeavour had a long and consequential legacy, in that his charts of the Euphrates and Tigris remained the base maps for the rivers for many decades, used by government officials of various states, merchants, scientists, and archeologists, as the blueprints for great ventures and discoveries. Notably, in the 1860s, British soldiers, who were running the lines for the overland telegraph route from India to Europe through Iraq, used Chesney’s charts as guides. Indeed, on a technical level, his work would not be superseded until the early 20th century. Importantly, the Euphrates and Tigris had from the early 20th century onwards been, in parts, dammed, drained and redirected, in addition to any natural changes in their courses, so radically transforming their nature. Chesney’s charts this are incomparable records of a bygone era, showing the rivers’ former courses and what then remained of ancient Mesopotamian civilizations before unnumerable amazing archaeological sites were severely disturbed by modernity. The Present Charts in Focus Present here is a very rare complete set of the first printing of Chesney’s 12 connecting charts of the navigable stretches of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, representing one of the greatest technical achievements of inland hydrography of the 19th century. If joined, the sheets would form a mega-chart of irregular dimensions with approximate maximum measurements of 2 x 4 metres. A masterpiece of scientific surveying, the charts are all executed to the uniform large scale of 4 miles to an inch. They meticulously map the contours of the rivers, regulated by marked astronomical observations and trigonometrical surveys, while bathymetric soundings dot the navigable routes, with all major features, both natural (hills, swamps, headlands, etc.) and manmade (villages, major buildings, roads, etc.) being carefully depicted. The nature of the vegetation and agriculture (ex. farm fields, palm groves) is shown, while Chesney notes the locations of the various tribes that inhabit the banks of the rivers, critical information, as maintaining good relations with the locals would be vital to anyone seeking to traverse the region. The circumstances surrounding the publication of the charts is bit hazy, although there is evidence that the 12 charts, were issued separately by the eminent firm of J. & C. Walker, who was the official printer for the British Admiralty and the East India Company. However, they were more commonly issued along with Chesney’ text volumes, The Expedition for The Survey of The Rivers Euphrates and Tigris, Carried on by Order of The British Government, in The Years 1835, 1836, and 1837; Preceded by Geographical and Historical Notices of The Regions situated between The Rivers Nile and Indus (Published by Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans., London, 1850), as part of the accompanying atlas that featured “fourteen maps and charts, and embellished with ninety-seven plates, besides numerous wood-cuts”. The present set of the charts is beautifully backed on white silk and was perhaps a separately issued set. The charts, especially as a complete set of 12 sheets, only very seldom ever appear on the market (perhaps only once every ten years or so), either alone, or as part of the assembly of Chesney’s text volumes and atlas." (Alexander Johnson/Dasa Pahor, 2023), British Library: General Reference Collection 10025.f.21. and X.570.; OCLC: 316378697; Dorsey D. JONES, ‘Chesney Chose the Euphrates Route’, The Historian 5, no. 1 (1942), pp. 5–23. Full text Vol 1 Expedition https://archive.org/details/b30455121_0001/page/n13/mode/2up Full text Vol 2 Expedition https://archive.org/details/b30455121_0002/page/n11/mode/2up

"Rare – the complete set of 12 connecting charts (that if joined would measure approx.. 2 x 4 metres!) showcasing the first scientific survey of the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers, the result of an incredible expedition led by Colonel Francis Rawson Chesney who traveled by steamboat 1,200 miles down the entire navigable length of the Euphrates, from Birecik, Turkey, down through Syria and Iraq, to the Persian Gulf, in order to prove the feasibility of a new short travel route between India and Britain; while the commercial exploitation of route never materialized, Chesney’s survey had a grand legacy, as its charts served as the authoritative source maps of the Euphrates an Tigris for decades, the blueprints for political, military and commercial activities and scientific and archaeological discovery – one of the great masterpieces of inland hydrography of the 19th century. In the 1830s, Britain was on the top of the world, having built a massive Asian empire consolidated upon its domination the Indian Subcontinent. However, it had a major challenge in that the established transport routes from Britain to India were either incredibly long (around the Cape of Good Hope) or unpleasant and dangerous (traversing Egypt’s Suez Isthmus overland and traveling down the pirate-infested Red Sea route). Enter Colonel (later General) Francis Rawson Chesney (1789 - 1872), an extremely enterprising British army officer. He politically well-connected, being the protégé of Lord Rawdon (later the 1st Marquess of Hastings) who served as the Governor-General of India (1813-23). In 1829, Chesney was sent on a special mission to the Ottoman Empire, whereupon he made many reconnaissance surveys. This led him to draft a well-reasoned proposal to build a canal across the Suez Isthmus that later proved highly influential (Ferdinand de Lesseps, who eventually completed the Suez Canal in 1869, addressed Chesney the “father” of the canal when they met in Paris). However, it was clear that during the 1830s the technical and financial resources, let alone the right political circumstances, were not right for building such a grand project. Chesney next prosed to the British government that they should consider creating a travel corridor from India to Europe via the Euphrates River, which ran for 2,800 from the highlands of eastern Anatolia down through the Syria and Iraq, before meeting the Tigris, forming the Shatt-al-Arab, before entering the Persian Gulf at the border of Ottoman Iraq and Persia. This river was known to be navigable for many hundreds of kilometres above the sea, while its tributary, the Tigris, was navigable up to Baghdad. As the relatively new technology of steamships was then revolutionizing global travel, he proposed that shallow draft steamships could be used to travel from the Persian Gulf up into Anatolia, and that from there passengers and freight could travel overland to the Mediterranean. Eventually, a railway could be built from the head of the navigation of the Euphrates to the Mediterranean, although that would be well into the future. Id realized, this plan would create by far and away the shortest distance travel route between India and Britain. The Euphrates route was also geopolitically convenient for London, as not only was the weak Ottoman Empire malleable (desperately seeking cooperation with Britain), but a British operation to protect a permanent travel route up through Mesopotamia and Anatolia would act as a deterrent to Russian aggression in the greater region (Britain and Russia were then squaring off in the first Cold War, ‘The Great Game’). While the Euphrates was then navigable for up to 1,200 miles above its embouchure, the Euphrates and Tigris had never been surveyed in serious, scientific fashion, such that the nature and extent of the navigability of these great streams was not known. Beginning in 1832, Chesney fiercely lobbied Whitehall for funds and resources to mount steamship expedition down the entire navigable length of the Euphrates, methodically mapping the river and its major tributaries, as well as conducting scientific and cultural research. Fortunately, he had friends in high places; it helped that King William IV, a career naval officer, was very enthusiastic about the project. In 1834, Chesney’s plan was approved by the government and Parliament voted to give £20,000 to find the project, then a very large sum. Two prefabricated steamboats of an ingenuous design, that could be disassembled and reconfigured, were custom-built for the expedition in Liverpool by the firm of John Laird. The vessels were fittingly named the Euphrates and the Tigris. Chesney managed to recruit an all-star team of military officers and scientists to guide the technical and academic aspects of the mission. This included the explorer Henry Blosse Lynch of the Indian Navy and the geologist William Francis Ainsworth, president of the Royal Physical Society of Edinburgh. He also assembled a crew from the Royal Artillery, Royal Sappers and Miners with professional skills and field experience in operating steam machinery, surveying and drawing. Chesney and his team were enthusiastic not just about mapping the Euphrates but also about the ethnographic, scientific and religious studies that the trip afforded, as “the country about the sources of the Euphrates and Tigris was the seat of [Biblical] Paradise!”. However, Lord Ellenbourgh, the president of the Board of Control for India, reminded the team that they should “always bear in mind that [the practicability of navigating the Euphrates] is the one object of your expedition, and that scientific inquiries, however interesting, are no to be allowed to detain you”. Chesney and his party set out from England for the Mediterranean early in 1835, arriving at the Gulf of Iskenderun, on the frontier of Anatolia and Syria, in March of that year. The men transported their equipment and the disassembled steamships over 140 miles of rough terrain to Bir (Birecik in modern Turkey), on the banks of the Euphrates. There, they created an improvised shipyard and assembled the vessels. They then set out down the river from a point that was about 1,200 miles above the sea. As the river’s course was little known, the trip proved extremely dangerous, as they had to negotiate a variety of hazards, even though navigable passages were always inevitably revealed. While Chesney was careful to maintain good relations with the Kurdish, Assyrian and Arab tribes that resided along the banks of the rivers (forging links that would be vital if a regular river transport corridor were to be opened), misunderstandings almost resulted in tragic altercations on several occasions. Worst of all, the Tigris was lost, vanishing during a sudden, freak storm, with it and its crew never to be seen again! Yet, the expedition persisted (fortunately Chesney and the principals of the expedition survived, as they were aboard the Euphrates). All along the way, Chesney and his men conducted exacting systematic hydrographic surveys to the highest standards. Geodetic basepoints at key junctures were ascertained by astronomical observations, while careful bathymetric soundings and accounts of the currents were taken. Observations were made of magnetic deviation and meteorology, while the party gathered geological, botanical and biological specimens. They also carefully recorded archeological sites, as well as taking careful notes on the local tribes, so executing the first comprehensive scientific reconnaissance of Mesopotamia. In addition to mapping the entire navigable length of the Euphrates from Birecik to the Persian Gulf, the party ascend the Tigris River for the Shatt-Al-Arab up to Baghdad, mapping the river with same care. Towards the end of the expedition, a side party ascended the Karun River, in Persia, which was major tributary of the Shatt-Al-Arab. The entire expedition was completed in early 1837. Critically, Chesney and his team had proved that the Euphrates was navigable for steamships from the Persian Gulf all the way up to Birecik, which was only 140 miles from the Mediterranean. This opened what was by far and away the shortest route from India to Britain (especially if a railway could someday be constructed between Birecik and Iskenderun). Chesney returned to London later in 1837, with has manuscript maps, watercolours, sketches and notes. His endeavor was immediately hailed as a tour de force, and many in government were highly enthusiastic about open the Euphrates India-Britain route. However, Britain soon became involved in the horrific disaster of the First Anglo-Afghan War (1839-42), which distracted the powers that be from pressing on with the Euphrates project. Moreover, for much of the 1840s, Chesney was deployed to serve in the Far East and so had trouble finding the spare time to work on publishing his maps and papers, let alone lobby for its advancement. Thus, the Euphrates plan remained ‘on ice’ during what was a decisive period. By the time that Chesney’s lavish account of the Euphrates expedition (including the present charts) were published in London in 1849-50, much of the momentum that once existed behind the Euphrates plan had dissipated. Ironically, it was Chesney’s 1829 feasibility study for the Suez Canal that ultimately killed his Euphrates plan, for his ideas for the former were adopted by his admirer Ferdinand de Lesseps who commenced the Suez Canal project in the 1850s, so rendering the Euphrates travel corridor obsolete (the Suez Canal would be inaugurated in 1869). However, Chesney’s endeavour had a long and consequential legacy, in that his charts of the Euphrates and Tigris remained the base maps for the rivers for many decades, used by government officials of various states, merchants, scientists, and archeologists, as the blueprints for great ventures and discoveries. Notably, in the 1860s, British soldiers, who were running the lines for the overland telegraph route from India to Europe through Iraq, used Chesney’s charts as guides. Indeed, on a technical level, his work would not be superseded until the early 20th century. Importantly, the Euphrates and Tigris had from the early 20th century onwards been, in parts, dammed, drained and redirected, in addition to any natural changes in their courses, so radically transforming their nature. Chesney’s charts this are incomparable records of a bygone era, showing the rivers’ former courses and what then remained of ancient Mesopotamian civilizations before unnumerable amazing archaeological sites were severely disturbed by modernity. The Present Charts in Focus Present here is a very rare complete set of the first printing of Chesney’s 12 connecting charts of the navigable stretches of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, representing one of the greatest technical achievements of inland hydrography of the 19th century. If joined, the sheets would form a mega-chart of irregular dimensions with approximate maximum measurements of 2 x 4 metres. A masterpiece of scientific surveying, the charts are all executed to the uniform large scale of 4 miles to an inch. They meticulously map the contours of the rivers, regulated by marked astronomical observations and trigonometrical surveys, while bathymetric soundings dot the navigable routes, with all major features, both natural (hills, swamps, headlands, etc.) and manmade (villages, major buildings, roads, etc.) being carefully depicted. The nature of the vegetation and agriculture (ex. farm fields, palm groves) is shown, while Chesney notes the locations of the various tribes that inhabit the banks of the rivers, critical information, as maintaining good relations with the locals would be vital to anyone seeking to traverse the region. The circumstances surrounding the publication of the charts is bit hazy, although there is evidence that the 12 charts, were issued separately by the eminent firm of J. & C. Walker, who was the official printer for the British Admiralty and the East India Company. However, they were more commonly issued along with Chesney’ text volumes, The Expedition for The Survey of The Rivers Euphrates and Tigris, Carried on by Order of The British Government, in The Years 1835, 1836, and 1837; Preceded by Geographical and Historical Notices of The Regions situated between The Rivers Nile and Indus (Published by Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans., London, 1850), as part of the accompanying atlas that featured “fourteen maps and charts, and embellished with ninety-seven plates, besides numerous wood-cuts”. The present set of the charts is beautifully backed on white silk and was perhaps a separately issued set. The charts, especially as a complete set of 12 sheets, only very seldom ever appear on the market (perhaps only once every ten years or so), either alone, or as part of the assembly of Chesney’s text volumes and atlas." (Alexander Johnson/Dasa Pahor, 2023), British Library: General Reference Collection 10025.f.21. and X.570.; OCLC: 316378697; Dorsey D. JONES, ‘Chesney Chose the Euphrates Route’, The Historian 5, no. 1 (1942), pp. 5–23. Full text Vol 1 Expedition https://archive.org/details/b30455121_0001/page/n13/mode/2up Full text Vol 2 Expedition https://archive.org/details/b30455121_0002/page/n11/mode/2up

Map of Middle East and Egypt. With inset: Frz. Somali. Bonne'sche Projektion., 1940. 21st. edition of Sydow-Wagner's methodical school atlas of the world. Edited by H. Haack and H. Lautensach. Revised and reprint from the original edition of 1889 and published by Justus Perthes in Gotha, 1940. Contains XVI, 64 page, 67 main map, some double page, 232 secondary maps, in variable scales in color and black and white, Maps include color coded reference, text, legend, secondary title page, some with location map and index. Atlas consists of political and thematic maps, city plans and views. Showing political boundaries, major cities, towns, roads, railroads, rivers, lakes shipping routes, distances, and mountains. Also showing routes of voyages and discovery. Relief shown by hachures, spot heights and gradient tints. Depth shown by bathymetric tints, isolines and soundings. Prime meridian: Greenwich. Bound in hard cover green paper with linen spine and title “Sydow-Wagners methodischer Schul-Atlas, Justus Perthes”. Atlas accompanied by supplemental alphabetical index: Namenverzeichniz in 42 pages, a manuscript map and a postcard map “Landtcarte von dem Nortfrieslande … Anno 1651”.

Map of the Middle East, including Persia [current-day Iran], Armenia, Anatolia [current-day Turkey] and Saudi Arabia. Shows countries, regions, cities, topography, vegetation, deserts, bodies of water, drainage, coastlines and islands. Relief shown pictorially. Includes a compass rose with north oriented toward top of sheet, a bar scale, latitudinal and longitudinal lines, and descriptive notes throughout. With decorative cartouches. Hand-colored engraving. Map is 46 x 55 cm, on double sheet 58 x 70 cm., Atlas der wereld, by Jan Barend Elwe; published in Amsterdam, 1792. Title translates to: Atlas of the world. Bound in contemporary half-calf over marbled paper boards. With gilt ornamentation and title on spine. Collation - Folio: 22 pages, 40 leaves of plates. Comprised of letterpress text, an engraved title page, 37 maps, one timeline and one table of distances for Europe. Geographic coverage includes Europe, Russia, the Middle East, the Holy Land, East and Southeast Asia, Africa, North America and South America. Maps show continents, countries, regions, cities, churches, railways, topography, deserts, bodies of water, drainage, coastlines, islands and routes of exploration. With pictorial vignettes of figures, fauna and flora. This historical atlas in which Elwe re-issued maps by De L’Isle, Ottens, Jaillot, and other 17th-century cartographers continued the 17th-century Franco-Dutch mapmaking tradition long after it had been eclipsed by the 18th-century English mapmakers. The work is an intriguing bookend on a cartographic tradition - “the golden age of cartography” - that shaped much of the modern world.

Outline hand color engraved map of Turkey in Asia. In upper right margin: "Atlas Universel Pl. 26.", Physical and political atlas of the world, by Adrien Hubert Brue, containing maps of ancient and modern geography. Published in Paris, by J. Goujon, Geographer-Editor. Unusual edition of Brue's Atlas, complete with its 36 maps on heavy paper, dated between 1762 and 1825 and supplementary 8 maps, in addition to the 36 plates. including: Comparative and figurative table of the height of the main mountains … 1829; La Palestine 1767; 3 plates from an atlas of Africa (nos. 1, 3 and 2); Plate no. 59 United States of Mexico, 1830, and plates nos. 64-65, South America, 1828-1830. Maps are engraved hand color in outline. Most maps double page, with title cartouche, some on multiple plates. Showing political and administrative boundaries, cities, towns, roads, exploration routes, rovers, canals and mountains. Relief shown by hachures and pictorially. Depth shown by soundings. Prime meridian: Ferro and Paris.

10 maps on 1 sheet. Showing regions, capitals and major cities. Relief shown by hachures, contours and spot heights. Depth shown by bathymetric tints, isolines and soundings., Czechoslovakian military atlas. Published in 2 volumes, The atlas published in 1965, and the name list published in 1966, this might be one of the most complex post WW2 atlases produced in Europe. The 210 000 names in the separately published in 256 pages, name register prove the amount of data present in the atlas is enormous. Bound in red covers with title in gilt on front cover and spine. The atlas is in 376 pages, in red covers and paper colored dust covers with map of the world and title on front sheet and spine. Atlas divided into two main sections, first part includes world geographical, political, physical and statistical maps, and the second part depicting military historical and the geographical anatomy of the most important battles of history as well as showing battle formations and war strategies from many thousand years B.C. until the Cuban revolution in 1959. Atlas includes color maps, descriptive text, index to and 2 sheets of legends, with separate loose sheets of legend and Supplement to the Map of Asia- Language Division of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic p. 161. Atlas provides a rich assortment of thematic as well as hundreds of physical and political maps,depicting in full detail the topography, coastlines, islands. water system, administrative divisions, roads, railroads, subways, agriculture, industry, energy, population and economic development, Relief shown by gradient tints, shadings, contours and spot heights. Depth shown by bathymetric tints, isolines. Most maps include descriptive text, tables and diagrams. Military historical maps showing political boundaries and battle grounds, military bases. Arrows and text pointing out the diversion of planes and warships to the strategic places. Atlas printed in the amount of 15 000 copies, it was officially distributed among military commanders. Although it is no surprise the military part of this atlas is affected by communistic propaganda to a rather high degree, it doesn’t make the cartographic part any less an admirable achievement. Around 300 people from Czechoslovakian Ministry of Defense, Charles University in Prague and Czech Academy of Science participated in making of this atlas, including Jane Klim, Editor in-Chief, Josef Paxa, Deputy of the editorial board, Bohuslav Simak, Editor of the Geographical section, Karel Blazek, Military historical section, and Josef Vlastnk, technical editor. Cartographically processed by the Military Cartographic Institute in Bánská Bystrica and the Military Geographical Institute in Prague.

Folded political and physical map of Northern part of Middle East. Equidistant Kuzelov projection. Shows political and administrative boundaries, regions, capitals and major cities. Relief shown by gradient tints, hachures and spot heights. Depth shown by bathymetric tints, isolines and soundings., Czechoslovakian military atlas. Published in 2 volumes, The atlas published in 1965, and the name list published in 1966, this might be one of the most complex post WW2 atlases produced in Europe. The 210 000 names in the separately published in 256 pages, name register prove the amount of data present in the atlas is enormous. Bound in red covers with title in gilt on front cover and spine. The atlas is in 376 pages, in red covers and paper colored dust covers with map of the world and title on front sheet and spine. Atlas divided into two main sections, first part includes world geographical, political, physical and statistical maps, and the second part depicting military historical and the geographical anatomy of the most important battles of history as well as showing battle formations and war strategies from many thousand years B.C. until the Cuban revolution in 1959. Atlas includes color maps, descriptive text, index to and 2 sheets of legends, with separate loose sheets of legend and Supplement to the Map of Asia- Language Division of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic p. 161. Atlas provides a rich assortment of thematic as well as hundreds of physical and political maps,depicting in full detail the topography, coastlines, islands. water system, administrative divisions, roads, railroads, subways, agriculture, industry, energy, population and economic development, Relief shown by gradient tints, shadings, contours and spot heights. Depth shown by bathymetric tints, isolines. Most maps include descriptive text, tables and diagrams. Military historical maps showing political boundaries and battle grounds, military bases. Arrows and text pointing out the diversion of planes and warships to the strategic places. Atlas printed in the amount of 15 000 copies, it was officially distributed among military commanders. Although it is no surprise the military part of this atlas is affected by communistic propaganda to a rather high degree, it doesn’t make the cartographic part any less an admirable achievement. Around 300 people from Czechoslovakian Ministry of Defense, Charles University in Prague and Czech Academy of Science participated in making of this atlas, including Jane Klim, Editor in-Chief, Josef Paxa, Deputy of the editorial board, Bohuslav Simak, Editor of the Geographical section, Karel Blazek, Military historical section, and Josef Vlastnk, technical editor. Cartographically processed by the Military Cartographic Institute in Bánská Bystrica and the Military Geographical Institute in Prague.

4 timeline maps on 1 sheet, with 5 insets. Including: map A, Greco-Persian Wars. Map B, Peloponnesian War. Map C, A campaign of tens of thousands of Greek mercenaries. D, Boeotian War., Czechoslovakian military atlas. Published in 2 volumes, The atlas published in 1965, and the name list published in 1966, this might be one of the most complex post WW2 atlases produced in Europe. The 210 000 names in the separately published in 256 pages, name register prove the amount of data present in the atlas is enormous. Bound in red covers with title in gilt on front cover and spine. The atlas is in 376 pages, in red covers and paper colored dust covers with map of the world and title on front sheet and spine. Atlas divided into two main sections, first part includes world geographical, political, physical and statistical maps, and the second part depicting military historical and the geographical anatomy of the most important battles of history as well as showing battle formations and war strategies from many thousand years B.C. until the Cuban revolution in 1959. Atlas includes color maps, descriptive text, index to and 2 sheets of legends, with separate loose sheets of legend and Supplement to the Map of Asia- Language Division of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic p. 161. Atlas provides a rich assortment of thematic as well as hundreds of physical and political maps,depicting in full detail the topography, coastlines, islands. water system, administrative divisions, roads, railroads, subways, agriculture, industry, energy, population and economic development, Relief shown by gradient tints, shadings, contours and spot heights. Depth shown by bathymetric tints, isolines. Most maps include descriptive text, tables and diagrams. Military historical maps showing political boundaries and battle grounds, military bases. Arrows and text pointing out the diversion of planes and warships to the strategic places. Atlas printed in the amount of 15 000 copies, it was officially distributed among military commanders. Although it is no surprise the military part of this atlas is affected by communistic propaganda to a rather high degree, it doesn’t make the cartographic part any less an admirable achievement. Around 300 people from Czechoslovakian Ministry of Defense, Charles University in Prague and Czech Academy of Science participated in making of this atlas, including Jane Klim, Editor in-Chief, Josef Paxa, Deputy of the editorial board, Bohuslav Simak, Editor of the Geographical section, Karel Blazek, Military historical section, and Josef Vlastnk, technical editor. Cartographically processed by the Military Cartographic Institute in Bánská Bystrica and the Military Geographical Institute in Prague.

Map of Iran, Afghanistan and the Balochistan Region, as of 1829. Shows political boundaries, cities, railways, forts, population, topography, bodies of water, drainage, coastlines and islands. Relief shown with hachures. Includes latitudinal and longitudinal lines, as well as a legend and two bar scales. Hand-colored engraving. Map is 27 x 37 cm, on sheet 45 x 57 cm. (Plate number taken from table of contents.), Hand-Atlas über alle Theile der Erde zunächst für Bürgerschulen und Zeitungsleser bestimmt by Carl Ferdinand Weiland; published in Weimar, 1829. (Date inferred based upon date of latest map within atlas.) Title translates to: General hand-atlas for all parts of the world, initially intended for public schools and newspaper readers. Bound in blue paper covers. which are blank. Collation: 2° : [2], I-XII, XIV-XIX, XXI-XXII, XX, XXIII-LX leaves of plates. This copy missing map number XIII, entitled “Preussische Monarchie”. Atlas comprised of title page and table of contents, followed by fifty-nine maps with global coverage, including two world maps (divided into Western, Eastern, Northern and Southern Hemispheres), Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Australia and the West Indies. Maps show political boundaries (including European colonies), cities, forts, population, railways, canals, population, topography, deserts, bodies of water, drainage, coastlines, islands and water routes. Map of North America displays territories of certain indigenous peoples. Hand-colored copper engravings with hand-drawn annotations on some maps.

Map of Persia [current-day Iran]. Shows political boundaries, cities, railways, topography, bodies of water, drainage, coastlines and islands. Relief shown with hachures. Includes latitudinal and longitudinal lines, as well as two bar scales given in British and geographical miles. Hand-colored lithograph. Map is 42 x 30 cm, on sheet 48 x 33 cm. Plate number handwritten in ink at upper right corner of sheet. Appears in Vol. II : Foreign., The dispatch atlas, in two volumes: Vol. I : British and .Vol. II : Foreign. Published by the Weekly Dispatch, London, 1863. Includes a preface, directions for binding and a table of contents for both volumes, which lists the maps in order of appearance, with plate numbers handwritten beside map titles. Preface begins: The subscribers to the Weekly Dispatch have in this collection the most full and accurate survey of the world's surface that has yet been presented to the public in any single series. Both volumes bound in board covered in dark green linen, with spine and corners in calf. Gilded spine titles, as well as ornamentation on spines and front and back covers. With marbled end papers and gilded page edges. Collation: Volume I: [6] pages, 129 leaves of plates (some double); Volume II: 147 leaves of plates (some double). The work’s total 276 plates contain 300 maps. Each plate number handwritten in ink above map. First volume focuses on the British Isles, especially England. Second volume covers the larger globe, featuring Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa, North America, Central America, South America, Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific Ocean and the Arctic. Maps show political boundaries, cities, fortresses, railways, roads, bridges, canals, ocean routes, topography, glaciers, bodies of water, drainage, coastlines, shoals, islands and water depths. Maps of the Americas include territories of indigenous peoples. Maps of the United States south delineate between Federal, Border and Confederate States. Some maps feature English translations of terms from other languages that describe geographic features, including the “Explanation of Arabic words" - such as nahr for river - in the Map of Syria. Maps created by Edward Weller, J. W. Lowry, B. R. Davies, John Dower and T. Ettling; printed by Edward Weller and Day & Son, Lithographers to The Queen.

Engraved double page map. Shows boundaries and division, major cities, rivers and mountains. Relief shown by hachures. Prime meridian is Greenwich., Modern Atlas, with Melish U.S. 1820 edition. Includes separate North America and United States by Arrowsmith for the English edition. Bound in quarter leather with with paper covered boards with "Atlas. Modern." on a cover label. The atlas includes uncolored maps, with no pagination and no tile page. Map count includes 2 separate maps. 41 unnumbered maps of the modern world double page, some folded. Shows political and administrative divisions, major cities, towns, roads, railroads, canals, rivers, lakes, and mountains. Relief shown by hachures. Prime meridian is Greenwich. Includes handwritten index. For "Atlas Ancient" see Publist # 0843.000., Walsh S-09234; P711,4312a.

Hand colored engraved map. Shows political and administrative boundaries. Relief shown by hachures., Lizars' New Edinburgh general atlas of the world, contains engraved title page, with decorative borders, text and contents, 44 lithographed hand colored maps on 62 plates, some double and folded. Maps show political and administrative boundaries, cities, villages, rivers, post roads, exploration routes, rivers, lakes and mountains. Relief shown by hachures. Some maps includes notes. Prime meridian is Greenwich. The map of the United States, covers eastern and central states. Covers are brown half leather paper covered boards with title in black on front cover, the spine in seven compartments with six raised bands, gilt-lettered in one and stamped in the rest with title" New Edinrg. Atlas". Manuscript notes inside front cover and verso of title page.

Outline color map of northeastern Africa and Arabian Peninsula. With inset map: Abessinien & Ägyptischer Sudan., 1875, 6th. edition of Stieler’s Hand atlas of the world and of the universe. Published by Justus Perthes of Gotha. It went through ten editions from 1816 to 1945. The first edition, published in 1817 by Stieler and Christian Gottlieb Reichard, with editions continuing well into the 20th century. This is the 6th. edition, with 90 maps dated 1871–75, edited by August Petermann, Hermann Berghaus and Carl Vogel. With additional set of special map of Australia on 9 sheets. This copy is a series of outline color unbound loose maps published in separate paper folders (several of which are included) over several years, placed in hard cover slip case. Some maps on multiple sheets. Maps showing political and administrative boundaries, cities, roads, railroads, canals, rivers, lakes, and mountains. Also showing European possessions and exploration routes. Relief shown by hachures and spot heights. Depths showing by soundings. Prime meridians: Greenwich, Ferro and Paris. Includes legend, text, profiles, and color coded references. All scans made at 800ppi because the loose maps could be scanned though the sheet scanner at higher resolution than the overhead camera scanner for bound atlases.

Outline color map of Middle East., 1875, 6th. edition of Stieler’s Hand atlas of the world and of the universe. Published by Justus Perthes of Gotha. It went through ten editions from 1816 to 1945. The first edition, published in 1817 by Stieler and Christian Gottlieb Reichard, with editions continuing well into the 20th century. This is the 6th. edition, with 90 maps dated 1871–75, edited by August Petermann, Hermann Berghaus and Carl Vogel. With additional set of special map of Australia on 9 sheets. This copy is a series of outline color unbound loose maps published in separate paper folders (several of which are included) over several years, placed in hard cover slip case. Some maps on multiple sheets. Maps showing political and administrative boundaries, cities, roads, railroads, canals, rivers, lakes, and mountains. Also showing European possessions and exploration routes. Relief shown by hachures and spot heights. Depths showing by soundings. Prime meridians: Greenwich, Ferro and Paris. Includes legend, text, profiles, and color coded references. All scans made at 800ppi because the loose maps could be scanned though the sheet scanner at higher resolution than the overhead camera scanner for bound atlases.

Color copper lithograph map by region. Shows political and administrative divisions, capitals, important towns, mountains and rivers. Includes explanations. Prime meridian is Greenwich. Relief shown by hachures., 1848 edition, known as Mitchell's new Universal atlas, without Tanner's name on the title page. Tanner issued this atlas first in 1836 with engraved maps, then it was taken over by Carey and Hart in 1843 and converted by them to lithographic maps in 1845. In 1846 Mitchell took over the publishing of this atlas and continued until 1849. This atlas is important in American printing history in that it was the first American atlas to be converted from engraved map plates to lithographic map plates. The maps are in full color, lithographic, covering the World, North America, and Mexico. Oregon and Upper California maps show the new boundary of Mexico and the United States resulting from the Mexican War, for the first time. Title page by K. Knight, includes a view of "The first landing of Columbus in the new world". Print showing Christopher Columbus and crew praying after landing in the New World for the first time on October 12 1492. Atlas is bound in half leather green marbled paper covered boards with "Mitchell's Universal Atlas" stamped in gilt on front label. Mitchell was born in 1792 in Connecticut and spent some of his early working years as a teacher. During his teaching years, he became quite dissatisfied with the available textbooks, and this led him to become a writer and publisher. He moved to Philadelphia, a major center for publishing at the time., P6106.

Engraved map. Shows major cities and towns. Relief shown by hachures. Prime meridian is Ferro. Includes index to provinces and neighboring countries., New political and historical atlas of the Ottoman Empire and neighboring states in Europe, Asia and Africa, in forty sheets. Drawn, reviewed and corrected by J.J. Hellert, and accompanied by a historical, geographical and statistical commentary by G. Heck, and Leon Plee. Atlas consists of engraved title page, 2 folded tables, IV, 82 pages of descriptive text and 39 engraved maps, some folded, the first double page map is colored. Includes plans of Constantinople, Dardanelles, important cities of the Empire, and the memorable sieges and battles. Atlas bound in half leather and marble paper covered boards with title "Atlas l'Empire Ottoman" in gilt on spine.

Engraved map of Persian Empire, hand colored in outline. "Indiae Veteris Quatenus Macedonibus Nota Fuit Finitimarumque Regionum Specimen Geographicum ... Auctor L.S. DeLaRochette ". Shows administrative boundaries, major cities and towns. Relief shown by hachures. Prime meridian is Greenwich., Wyld’s general atlas in 58 pages, with engraved title and contents within decorative border printed in green. Contains 55 engraved maps, most dated 1838, hand color in outline, mostly double page and some folded, three engraved comparative charts of mountains and rivers and itinerary measures. Bound in red grained morocco, incorporating original marbled paper covered boards, original engraved title label on the front cover, and title “Wyld’s general atlas” in gilt in on spine. Atlas containing very detailed maps of the world with an emphasis on Europe, but with several important maps showing the Americas, Asia, Africa and Australia. Most of the maps have a small vignette illustrating a feature of the region. This large general atlas by Wyld is far more rare than his smaller general atlas of 1824, see our 2713.000

Double page engraved map of Turkey in Asia, hand colored in outline. Shows political boundaries. Relief shown by hachures. Prime meridian is Greenwich., Wyld’s general atlas in 58 pages, with engraved title and contents within decorative border printed in green. Contains 55 engraved maps, most dated 1838, hand color in outline, mostly double page and some folded, three engraved comparative charts of mountains and rivers and itinerary measures. Bound in red grained morocco, incorporating original marbled paper covered boards, original engraved title label on the front cover, and title “Wyld’s general atlas” in gilt in on spine. Atlas containing very detailed maps of the world with an emphasis on Europe, but with several important maps showing the Americas, Asia, Africa and Australia. Most of the maps have a small vignette illustrating a feature of the region. This large general atlas by Wyld is far more rare than his smaller general atlas of 1824, see our 2713.000