George Washington Bacon was a prolific, restless, serial entrepreneur of American birth. He founded a series of businesses in the 1860s many of which failed, resulting in his bankruptcy. In 1870, he founded a map publishing business initially focusing on maps of London. Evidently he must have been successful as he purchased the business of one of the cartographic titans of the Victorian map era, James Wyld in 1893. In 1900 his business in turn was purchased by the firm of W. & A.K. Johnston but Bacon's name was used as a separate brand on their maps until the 1950s.



This folding chart of the world is the integration of the design philosophy of the Johnston firm with their emphasis on scientifically themed maps together with the geo-political specialisation of the Wyld firm, expertly portrayed as an attractive commercial object. The result was so successful that it has become one of Bacon's best-known maps, issued in multiple editions reflecting the geographical changes of an uncertain period just before the Great War.



Geo-politically, the most salient feature of the map is the presence of the vibrant pink/red, signifying the British Empire as stated just below the title of the map. The reader is also informed of the extent of the Empire with several panels of text on the lower part of the map, listing its major areas and cities together with other statistics. Further details of note are the claims and settlement in Africa; the reconciliation of Egypt and the Ottoman Empire; although Egypt, together with its influence in eastern Arabia, was to all intents and purposes independent, geo-politically it is shown as part of the Empire again. The Austrian Empire is now called the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In South America, Chile and Argentina have laid claim to Patagonia; the newly unified Germany has joined other European powers in their quest for world influence, with possessions such as German East Africa, Togo Land and Kaiser Wilhelm's Land in New Guinea. This is just a sample of the visible geo-politics, with many of these new developments stemming from wars, land purchases, diplomatic maneuvres, treaties and settlements which were occurring at a dizzying speed during the 19th century.



Complementing the geo-politics is the commercial information portrayed on the map. This is shown through the multitude of insets, generally focusing on important ports or logistical regions such as the Suez Canal. The other feature is the vast and ever growing network of shipping routes, telegraphs cables and railway networks shown on both land and sea; a further text panel shows the principal British steam ship companies together with lists of the major cities of the world and other important information about their commercial capabilities.



The scientific information is represented by the growing science of oceanography, here illustrated by the flow of warm and cold water currents. There is also a large inset of the world on an elliptical projection, colour coded to show population density. On the lower right, a panel shows the concept of dividing the world into time zones, "A Universal Time Chart", with a multitude of clocks showing different times around the world with noon in Greenwich and Accra using the former as the prime meridian.



Finally, two insets of the poles on the upper left and right corner of this map are invaluable in its dating. Although there is no date printed on the map, the Johnston firm were meticulous in its updating, especially in recording the progress of Polar exploration. On this example, the map shows 'Scott 1902', referring to the 1901-4 British Antarctic Expedition; the Polar inset shows 'Peary 1906' referring to Robert Peary's Polar Expedition of 1905-6.



The whole map is framed with a series of colourful flags, reflecting this new international, interconnected world.


Framed. [WLD4815]