Syracuse with the Remaining Vestiges of its Five Cities

Detailed plan of the ancient city of Syracuse.

The Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge was an organization that operated between 1826 and 1848 and focused on the publication and distribution of inexpensive learning material for the general public. It was thought that the ability to self-educate in the lower and middle classes would contribute to public order and advance the high-minded ideals of Western science and civilization. The maps the organization produced are some of the most detailed, practical, and accessible maps of the mid-19th century. They were initially published in pairs and sold by subscription, but in the waning years, the S.D.U.K. compiled several extraordinary atlases which were published even after it closed its doors.

This example came from one such atlas published around 1845 by the firm of Charles Knight in London. The steel engraved image shows a historical overview of the Sicilian island of Syracuse, settled since at least the 8th century BCE by Carthigians and later occupied by Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Normans, and Genoese. Various archaeological and geographic features are labeled according to a key in the upper left, while a ‘View of Syracuse from the Theater’ can be seen in the lower center.