ISSN 1443-0568 | no. 69 | June 2004
Decorative Mid-Nineteenth-Century School Atlas
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D. Vogel's Schul-Atlas
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A very attractive and unusual German school atlas has recently been acquired by the Library. Titled D. Vogel’s School Atlas and issued in a loose-leaf format without a title sheet, the collection of maps is housed in a gilt-edged box with clasp.
The work was compiled by Karl Vogel and published in Leipzig around 1841. It consists of 16 hand-coloured maps of the continents of the world, with more detailed maps of parts of Europe. Significant physical features such as deserts and mountain ranges are shown as well as the political states of that time. Surrounding each map plate is a detailed and highly decorative border featuring either native peoples and plants of the region or, in the case of the European plates, notable buildings and monarchs. A later hand has added, in manuscript, information such as names and life-dates of the persons depicted. The borders have also been hand-coloured. Accompanying the plates are 17 hand-written pages providing an index and additional information about the maps.
The work is very rare with only one other copy known to be in a listed public collection—at the Landesbibliothek Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in Schwerin, Germany. Vogel’s work is not widely known but he appears to have specialised in mapping and geography for students. A number of related works by him, such as explanations and teacher/pupil guides, have also survived.
The attention to detail in both the maps and the vignettes bordering them make
the atlas an outstanding and exceptional example of an early-nineteenth-century
work for geography students.
Maura O’Connor, Map Curator
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