Hauteur au Dessues de La Mer

Decorative mid-19th century comparison chart of the world’s tallest mountains.

This elaborate diagram was prepared by Jean Denis Barbie du Bocage for inclusion in Maison Basset’s Atlas Illustre. The copperplate engraving was designed to be a comparative illustration of the tallest mountains (including volcanoes) on each continent.

The height of each peak, its range, and geographic region are presented within a table in the center of the sheet. The elaborately engraved image shows the relative height of nearly 70 summits, each individually depicted in profile.

In addition, numbers 70-72 reference the highest points recorded points reached by two prominent balloonists and the condor. The tallest mountain, listed here as Mt. Dhawaladgerid, would not be commonly known as Mt. Everest until the 1860’s, after a push from the Royal Geographical Society of England.