British Empire Throughout the World Exhibited in One View

1855

Later hand-coloured copper engraving on paper

Print size: 16.75 x 20 in (42.5 x 50.5 cm)
Sheet size: 18 x 21.25 in (46 x 54 cm)

This lot is a good example of a highly decorative "Kingdom Map". A Kingdom map superimposes political influence onto physical space to represent that part of the world within a government’s control. Its function is to show us the shape and extent of how “our” territory is separate from “their” territory.

This map appeared in Fullarton's The Royal Illustrated Atlas, of Modern Geography with An Introductory Notice by Dr. N. Shaw, Secretary to The Royal Geographical Society &c. A. Fullarton and Co. London and Edinburgh which was first published in 1864 after being issued in 27 parts from 1854-62.

In the 1850s, the Scottish mapmaking firm of John Bartholomew and Co. (led by several generations of Bartholomew’s, many of them named John) devised a technique to address the challenge to identify British possessions. Their cartographers pioneered the use of the color red to identify British possessions. The map in this lot is one of the earliest examples where the territory of colonies is filled with red to contrast with the non-British territories left uncolored.

This lovely map whose finely drawn border makes it resemble a scroll, illustrates the width and breadth of the British Empire in the mid-nineteenth century. Above and below the map are a series of vignettes engraved by John, depicting the various peoples of the Empire. Along the top, Aboriginal Australians stand behind a group of settlers, while American frontiersmen speak to a group of First Nations people described in the inscription as 'copper coloured.'

The lower border is embellished with a large number of peoples from virtually all corners of the world, creating an interesting and eye-catching scene. There are representatives of the Raj and British China, a group of British sailors, a Scotsman, a gentleman and lady, a cavalryman with his horse and sabre, and native peoples of Cape Colony and Southern Africa, altogether creating an interesting and ornamental map.

In the top right and left corners, on either side of the title cartouche has tables featuring extensive data for the populations and area in square miles of British possessions across the globe.

The continents themselves are finely drawn but do not contain a significant amount of detail aside from major rivers and bodies of water. Most details are relegated to those territories directly under British rule, and are primarily devoted to the naming of cities and places along the shores of those territories.

This work will be shipped unframed

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