Baur and Bromme Map of the World on Mercator Projection (1870)

Description: TITLE: Neueste Karte Der Erde Mit Rucksicht auf das Bedurfniss des Handelstandes sowie fur den Unterricht an Leher-Anstalten.

A vastly complex and enormously proportioned c. 1870 German map of the world by C. F. Baur and Traugott Bromme. Printed in c. 1870 in a multi-toned lithographic process, this extraordinary map presents the world on a Mercator Projections.

Designed with a educational purposes in mind, Baur manages to incorporate a staggering wealth of informative detail into every corner of this map. The world is depicted according to the political conventions of the late 19th century.

While most of the world had been explored by the late 19th century, this map does offer some interesting speculative land masses in the Arctic including Gillis Land (named after a c. 1707 whaler who supposedly spotted it) and a mysterious land mass to the northwest of the Behring Strait.

The Canadian Arctic is remarkably well mapped, though the whole region is shown to be locked down in glacial ice. In contrast, Antarctic exploration was still in its infancy, though parts of the Antarctic coast line are noted to the south of Australia and off the coast of Tierra del Fuego.

Throughout there is an attempt to map currents and wind patterns. Various explorer's routes, including Cook, Biscoe, Tasman, Wilkes, Vancouver, the Resolution, Wallis, Boupet, Diego Alvarez, Bligh, Boulton, and many others. This also identifies the Saragasso Sea and another similar vortex in the Pacific.

The border regions of the map are occupied by a series of smaller maps and charts including polar projections, an isothermal chart, a winds chart, an inset of Panama and Suez, two weather charts, and a magnetic variation chart.

The title cartouche, appearing in the lower left quadrant, shows a shop and a train as well as curious logo that seems to embrace the realms of navigation and science.