Separately issued folding map of the Mediterranean Sea focusing on the steamship routes pioneered in the mid-19th century.

Each of the routes is labelled with their point of origin and destination, together with the time of the journey. The routes are each coloured according to the nationality of the vessels a key in a small box in the lower centre. The map is unusual in its international flavour, listing English, French, Russian, Turkish and Austrian routes among others.

A text panel in the lower left expands on this information. The date of 1851 is interesting as it is shortly before the start of construction of the Suez Canal in 1859. Upon its completion in 1869, it would revolutionise the sea routes of the Mediterranean.

We have been able to find other editions of the folding example of this map issued in 1852 and 1854, suggesting that it was a successful entry into the Andriveau-Goujon catalogue. A further paper version was reduced and bound into Andriveau-Goujon atlases in the 1870s.

Original colour. Folded. [MED2379]