Is It a Map?! – Unusual Graphics in the Geography and Map Division

Sometimes in our collection of 6 million maps, I run across an item that is so unusual that it makes me stop and ask myself, “is this really a map?” When one thinks of a map, the most typical response is to think of something that shows the land or sea that depicts such things as cities, roads, and natural features. However, another definition as given by the Merriam Webster dictionary is “a diagram or other visual representation that shows the relative position of the parts of something.” And by that definition, I believe the items from our collection featured below, though unusual, are most certainly maps, but you can judge for yourself!

The first unique map I am astounded by is this 1827 “Compendious chart exhibiting, at one view, the names of about thirteen hundred of the principal ports and places in the world, with their bearings per compass, and their distances expressed in geographical miles, from the city of Washington.” That is a lot of information in one graphic!

The center of the map is Washington D.C. surrounded by a compass. Each of the 1,300 ports and places are then arrayed around the compass dependent on their direction from Washington. All the ports within the pink, green, and yellow coloring are within the United States while all others are foreign ports. Interestingly, the ports are not arranged by distance from the city but in alphabetical order starting from the center with all the U.S. ports and then restarting the alphabet for all other ports. There is little information to be found on the designer of this magnificent map, P. Hawkes, so we cannot guess as to his reasoning for creating such a chart.

If you dig in to the details on this map, there is a lot to discover. I searched for the name marked the farthest distance from Washington D.C. and saw it was “Sillabur” at 10,308 miles. Being curious, I looked to find where this city was and could not find that name in any of my searching. I saw on the chart that just to the northwest was the city of Padang on the east coast of Sumatra, only 230 miles away. I looked then at a modern map and saw that 230 miles just to the southeast of Padang is the city of Jambi, a busy port town on the Batang Hari River. This city may be the mysterious Sillabur!

If you thought the above map was a lot of information, this next chart has so much data packed in as to be overwhelming. To attempt to depict the battles, troops movements, and timeline of a complicated five year war in one graphic is a monumental undertaking. However, the Comparative Synoptical Chart Company did just that with this chart of the American Civil War made in 1897.

The chart has been divided into 21 columns with the Confederate side represented on the left and the Union on the right. The first two outer columns on each side show the value of money for each side and the strength of each army. Each of the other columns represents a state with those seeing the most action towards the center. The horizontal lines represent each month in the timeline of the war starting at the bottom in 1860 and moving upwards to 1865. Battles and engagements are shown by circles and dots with red dots depicting army battles and blue representing naval engagements; the larger the circle, the more important the battle. The movements of each army are represented by the lines crossing across the chart, yellow for Union troops and green for Confederate armies. The direction of the line indicates movement toward or away from the respective capitals of each side.

The more one looks at it, the more one sees. It is quite a lot to take in! Like the first map, there is little information on the Comparative Synoptical Chart Company. The company produced several historical maps of this type including ones of the Boer War (1899-1902), the royal houses of Great Britain, Canadian history from 1492-1897, and British history of the 19th century.  The “Scaife’s comparative and synoptical system” touted at the top of the chart was a method of presenting history designed by Arthur Hodkin Scaife. The goal of his system of history was to afford a comprehensive view of an entire event so as to see both the overall picture and the details.  A small pamphlet was issued with this Civil War map giving explanatory text and an index in which it says:

“This, and much more, is the story chronicled in such a small fraction of the chart we here reproduce, and the whole history of the war is as clearly shown in the complete chart. It will thus be seen that in this one work we have before us an arrangement of the facts of this great war such as has never before been presented and by means of which the careful student may obtain a perfect knowledge of the struggle in general and in detail.”

The last chart to catch my eye and ask the question “is this a map”, is this New York and Erie Railroad diagram that represents not only the train lines but the organizational structure of the company.

I am fascinated by this organization chart as I have never seen anything similar in our collections. The New York and Erie Railroad was commissioned in April 1832 to connect New York City on the east side of the state with Lake Erie on the west. Construction started in 1836 and was completed in Dunkirk on the shores of Lake Erie on May 19, 1851. The above chart was created in 1855, several years after its completion. Ironically, the railroad company went into bankruptcy only 4 years later in 1859 and was reorganized under a different name in 1861.

The graphic starts with the board of directors and president of the company at the bottom of the page, moving its way up to each descending level of the organization. What makes this infographic more than just an organization chart is the geographic information also included. It shows the railway line with the station towns, the mileage in between stations, and various amenities located at each stop. Below is a more traditional map of the railroad made in the same year as the chart above.

While perhaps not traditional maps, the infographics I highlighted are indeed a form of map as they do provide geographic information in unique ways. You never know what other unusual items you may find by poking around in our collections!