Crofutt’s New Map of Trans-Continental, American & Trans-Continental, European Route Around the World.

Around the world in 80 days!

“The technological innovations of the 19th century had opened the possibility of rapid circumnavigation, and the prospect fascinated Verne and his readership. In particular, three technological breakthroughs occurred in 1869–1870 that made a tourist-like around-the-world journey possible for the first time: the completion of the first transcontinental railroad in America (1869), the opening of the Suez Canal (1869), and the linking of the Indian railways across the sub-continent (1870).

It was another notable mark at the end of an age of exploration and the start of an age of fully global tourism that could be enjoyed in relative comfort and safety. It sparked the imagination that anyone could sit down, draw up a schedule, buy tickets and travel around the world, a feat previously reserved for only the most heroic and hardy of adventurers.” – Wikipedia.

This amazing world map was published in 1871, the year prior to Jule Verne’s iconic Around the World in Eighty Days, as part of George Crofutt’s Transcontinental Tourist Guide. It presents a details global overview of the primary means of transportation available to the adventurous traveler on a transcontinental tour.

The route, presented with a thick black line, can be traced from New York to London and back again, with a table in the lower right detailing the exact timeframe and cost ($1,145). Toponyms and annotations provide fascinating contemporary insight into global perspectives and exploration.

Source: Pan MacMillan