Old maps and charts showing mountains

Mountains & Rivers

Johnson & Ward

This plate showing the worlds longest rivers and tallest mountains is typical of many charts included in atlases produced in the years 1800 to 1920.

this particular plate dates
from 1864

A map of
the mountains and waterfalls
in the Eastern Hemisphere

from
TALLIS'S Illustrated Atlas,
published circa 1851

A series of engraved maps of the countries of the world drawn and engraved by
John Rapkin
published by
John Tallis

size
about 13 x 10 inches,
(335 x 260 mm)

Opinions of the public press at the time

by John Tallis c. 1851

DUBLIN WEEKLY REGISTER
Nothing can be more delicately beautiful than the colouring of the maps; and around the margin are not only physical but architectural illustrations of the region laid open to the reader. Altogether these are the cheapest and most interesting maps we have ever seen.

GLOBE
Both maps and letter-press are prepared in a manner creditable to those concerned. The pictorial illustrations on the blank spaces round the edges of the maps are appropriate and well executed.

LIVERPOOL MERCURY
The neat, clear and succinct style of engravings, the elegant illustrations, together with the valuable and useful information from the pen of Montgomery Martin, all combine to render this series peculiarly attractive.

NEW YORK SUN
It is, without exception, the most accurate and most splendid publication of the kind ever issued. The maps are done on steel in the most costly manner, while the utmost care has been taken to obtain the very latest surveys. They include all new boundaries, discoveries, railroads etc. The outlay for the production of this magnificent work must have been enormous; and we trust the publishers will be remunerated by large and rapid sales.

Mountains

by John Thompson

this plate is from the
"New General Atlas"

it was produced by
John Thompson & Co. in 1827

It shows all sorts of interesting things such as
"the highest place vegetation grows"
"the highest inhabited house in Scotland" and
"the highest height ascended in a balloon"

by John Thompson 1827

Portraying mountains

It is interesting to see how maps portrayed mountains years ago

this early map by John Speed of Westmorland produced C. 1612 shows how small "mole hill" type shapes that were often used to show mountains.
It was typical of early British cartographers.

the image below the main map is detail from the same map and shows this well.

Often these mountains were not named on the map.

detail from Speed's map of Westmorland

Often mountains were represented by chains looking like "bread twists"

This very early (1540) map by Sebastian Muenster of Asia is a good example of this.