Wrangel-Land und Ubersicht der Entdeckungsgeschichte in Eismeer nordl der Bering - Strasse

This attractive map is an overview of the exploration of the Arctic Sea north of the Behring Straits from Cook to Long in 1867.

The emphasis on the map is on the position of the elusive island named Wrangel Land or now Wrangel Island. It was named after Baron Ferdinand von Wrangel who searched for it unsuccessfully for three years. The Long is refers to Thomas Long, an American whaling captain, who approached close to the coastline and named the island out of respect for the unsuccessful search undertaken by Wrangel. It is now a Russian nature reserve.

The Geographische Mittheilungen, in which this map was originally published, is the oldest German language geographical journal - its first issue was in 1855 and it finally closed its doors in 2004. The magazine was conceived and edited by August Heinrich Petermann and published by the venerable firm of Justus Perthes in Gotha, Germany. Its first article reported on an expedition into North Africa and the Sahara by Heinrich Barth and Adolf Overweg. This report was enough to secure a circulation of 4000 for the fledgling magazine and, more importantly, encouraged other important scientist-explorers of the day who were attracted by the magazine’s heavy scientific emphasis to send in their own reports. These included Hans Meyer, the first man to ascend the Kibo crater on Mount Kilimanjaro, Sven Hedin, the Swedish explorer of Central Asia and the Himalayas, and Alfred Wegener, the geoscientist who pioneered the theory of continental shift which led to the modern theory of plate tectonics.

In comparison to its contemporaries, such as the Geographical Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, the Mittheilungen had a far greater interest in ethnography and the physical and natural sciences, leading to the inclusion of many fascinating, but sometimes obscure, maps on the most recent theories related to climatology, meteorology, botany, and zoology. Printed colour.

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