A Map of the Countries between Constantinople and Calcutta

Folding map of a strategic region between the Bosphorus and the Indian sub-continent, encompassing Anatolia, Arabia, Iran, the Caucasus and Central Asia.


This item became a standard issue folding map published by Stanfords for those interested in the important region of the Middle East and beyond. Its popularity is underlined by its almost continuous publishing history beginning in the 1870s and stretching into the 1930s, with regular geographical and more importantly, political updates.


This particular example is an early edition published in 1878. It is a little smaller than the later examples of the map and its focus is a little narrower. Later examples would show the whole sub-continent of India as well as Sri Lanka. As is often the case on theses maps, British possessions are marked in red and on this example, particular note should be taken of the new inclusion of Cyprus in this group. The British Empire acquired Cyprus in the Treaty of Berlin due the Navy's need for a port in this strategic region, especially as the Ottoman Empire came perilously close to falling to the Russian Empire in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-8. As the Treaty of Berlin, which was the diplomatic settlement of this conflict, finished in July 1878 and this map was issued in October 1878, this must be one of the earliest commercially distributed maps showing Cyprus as part of the Empire.


Printed colour. Folded. [MEAST4410]