Folding Victorian wall map of the world on Mercator's Projection with numerous explorer's tracks and recent additions to the geography of the South Pole.

This fine folding map of the world on Mercator's Projection follows a tradition began in the late 18th century of producing large folding wall maps showing the advance of exploration and political changes throughout the continents.

In Europe, the emphasis is on the developing and changing political landscape, especially after the Napoleonic Wars. The Congress of Vienna established a new political order, especially with the emergence of Prussia as one of the new great powers of the Europe and the growth and consolidation of the Austrian Empire. However, these new borders were always bound to cause tension. This tension led to small conflicts, one of the most serious of which had just erupted in the form of the Crimean War, when Britain, France and Turkey allied together to curb Russian aggression in the Crimea. This Russian drive for expansion, especially at the expense of the old Ottoman Empire, became a running theme throughout 19th century Europe. So much so, that later, it even gained a term of its own, "The Eastern Question".

Africa is far more a geographical and cartographic record. Interest in the exploration of the continent was reaching a fever pitch, especially after the extraordinary achievements of Dr David Livingstone, whose contributions to the geography of the continent can be seen between Angola and the east coast; the epic journey of Major Denham and Hugh Clapperton traversing the Sahara from north the south is apparent from the newly present detail in that region; the greatest prize of all, the source of the Nile, had yet to be found but we do have the mention of the military expedition sent by Muhammad Ali, Pasha of Egypt, in 1820-1 which conquered Sudan and speculated on the course and source of the Nile.

Asia is characterised by the size of the Chinese Empire, which is separated from China proper. The two geographical bodies together dwarf all the other countries in the region with the exception of Siberia. In the Middle East, the slow decline of the Ottoman Empire is graphically illustrated by its new borders, now without Greece in Europe and without Arabia in Asia, which had been invaded by the resurgent Egyptians under Pasha Muhammad Ali.

The Americas reflect the vast changes that had occurred in the New World. These were both political and geographical. The expansion westward of the United States is clearly shown on the map, including the acceptance of Texas into the United States and the acquisition of California during the Mexican-American War. In Canada, the main emphasis is on the exploration of the Canadian Arctic Seas and the survey of the Prince of Wales Strait and the Investigator Sound, which finally led to the discovery of the northwest Passage. In South America, the borders are very different than those of the modern continent. Bolivia has access to the sea, Patagonia is a separate region not yet divided between Argentina and Chile, the area encompassing what is now Venezuela and Colombia is entitled "Colombia" with the modern area of Colombia called New Granada. While the countries or Paraguay and Uruguay are present, their borders are very different than those of the modern states. All of this emphasizes the state of flux in which Latin American found itself after it had declared independence from Spain in the early 19th century.

Finally, one must mention the multiplicity of routes present on the oceans, showing the achievements and discoveries of marine explorers such as Cook, La Perouse and Clarke. This map is centered on the Pacific to showcase these extraordinary voyages in the South Seas. In addition this map also noted some of the first firm sightings of the edges of the Antarctic continent, Adelie Land, Graham Land and Wilkes Land. Original colour. Folded [WLD4436]