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Original map of the Transvaal or South-African Republic
Merensky, Alexander, 18...
Original map of the Tra...
1875
11205.000
Related
 
Author
[Merensky, Alexander, 1837-1918, Sulzer, J.]
Full Title
Original map of the Transvaal or South-African Republic, including the gold and diamondfields. From the best sources and documents, especially from sourveys by Mr. Mauch, Baines, Mohr, and others, combined with the results of hisown explorations by A. Merensky, Superintendent of the Berlin missions in Transvaal. Berlin & Botsabelo, 1875. Selbstverlag des Verfassers. Zu beziehen vom Missionshaus, Berlin, Friedensstr. 4. Engraved by J. Sulzer. Berlin.
List No
11205.000
Note
"A very rare and historically important map – the first comprehensive, accurate general map of the Transvaal, issued shortly before the First Boer War (1880-1), by the missionary-cartographer Alexander Marensky... an intrepid German missionary-cartographer who tirelessly surveyed the bushveld, while searching out the best sources from other mapmakers. The region was then a wild and volatile frontier, the control of which was actively contested between the Afrikaner settlers, the various native nations and the covetous British colonists and officials who were progressively moving in from the Cape. Recent finds of gold and diamonds, which are prominently noted on the map, had suddenly brought this land to global attention. These factors would soon lead to the First Boer War (1880-1), followed by the explosive population and economic growth of the Transvaal. The present 1875 map by Merensky follows the 1868 map of the Transvaal he made in conjunction with Friedrich Jeppe. While the earlier map represented a major advancement, it contained many serious inaccuracies and blank spaces that were corrected and filled in by the present production. The map shows the Transvaal with very expansive borders, such that it designates many of the regions that were disputed with neighbouring jurisdictions as decisively being a part of the ZAR. For instance, the border with Portuguese East Africa (Mozambique) cuts far to the east of the true line, only a short distance from the colonial capital of Lourenço Marques (Maputo). Also Swaziland (in reality then, as now, a fully independent kingdom) is shown to be a part of the ZAR, as are the southern districts of Utrecht and Luneberg, which were really a part of Natal. Within the Transvaal, all districts are labeled, while symbols, identified in the legend below the title, designate all towns; European farms and small villages; missions; native villages, as well fountains or pits (sources of water). Pretoria, the capital of the ZAR, graces the centre of the map, while a series of roads and bush tracks connect it to an archipelago of fledgling towns and settlements. Of great importance, the map also labels the ‘Boundary of the Tsetse Fly’, designated by a green line. This disease-carrying insect, the scourge of Europeans in Sub-Saharan Africa, occupied the lowland areas, although not the high plateau of the Transvaal. While Europeans could live in relative health in the fly-free zones, the lands beyond the line represented omnipresent danger. The map predates by over a decade the explosive growth experienced by the Transvaal following the discovery of massive gold deposits along the Wittwatersrand Ridge in 1886, located to the southwest of Pretoria (Johannesburg was founded that year). That being said, the map provides a wealth of information on the early discoveries of gold and diamonds in the region, which are noted throughout. For instance the map labels the ‘Diamondfields’ (the world’s largest) near Kimberly, West Cape, the ‘Goldfield’ near Lydenburg in the northeast and ‘Buttons Goldfield’ near Marabasdorp, amongst many others." (Alex Johnson, 2015) “As a researcher Merensky was particularly interested in geography and made two significant contributions in that field. Assisted by Carl Mauch, the explorer, and Friedrich Jeppe, the postmaster-general and cartographer, he in 1868 published a map which is a relatively comprehensive survey of the Transvaal. In 1875 he published in Germany a considerably improved map of the Transvaal Republic; for a long time it was considered the best cartographical survey of this area.” (Dictionary of South African Biography). Outline color map of Transvaal Republic with surrounding territories. Shows principal places or districts, villages, missionary stations, abandoned stations, kraals, farms, forest, Tsetse fly boundaries, mining fields, etc. Map indicates British and Portuguese dominions. Relief shown by hachures.
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