The World on a Globular Projection

Hand-drawn double hemisphere map of world at about 1830.

This skillfully drawn map of the world was created by an unnamed schoolchild, probably American, around 1830. It is a direct copy of a map published in 1829 by D.F. Robinson & Co. as part of Jesse Olney’s New and Improved School Atlas. The image presents a somewhat outdated representation of the globe, with rough pictorial topography and various labeled features.

Only a portion of the Antarctic coastline is mapped and whispers of a possible Northwest Passage can be seen in the Arctic Circle. Also of interest are the Mountains of the Moon in Western Africa. Allegedly the source of the Nile according to Ptolemy, the fictitious range was typically shown in the southern part of the continent. Here, it’s depicted as an extension of the equally mythical Mountains of Kong, unlabeled but present on Olney’s map.

[Taken from an online exhibition at the Osher Map Library] The creation of elaborate hand-drawn maps became an increasingly important part of this applied visual education by the 1810s, bringing together geographic and historical knowledge, as well as penmanship, artistry, and accomplishment. As historian Susan Schulten explains, “From the 1790s to the 1830s, students aged twelve to sixteen—primarily but not exclusively female—drew, painted, and stitched elaborate and enduring maps as part of their education in academies, seminaries, and other independent schools. Some maps were copied and traced, while others were freehand efforts guided largely by the grid of longitude and latitude. During the antebellum period, separate male and female academies and seminaries were founded up and down the Eastern Seaboard, as the demand for education grew exponentially in the young republic.

Geography was a foundational subject for both boys and girls, as it was thought to contribute to both literacy and citizenship. Many of the young women studying at such academies went on to become teachers, and may have brought map drawing and decorative practices with them into other schools. Elaborate hand-drawn maps began to go out of fashion in the 1830s and 1840s, as increasing numbers of illustrated geographic textbooks and printed classroom maps and charts became more widely available.”

Source: Osher Map Library; Rumsey 2430.001