History of relief maps

Historical Background : Alongside my search for relief maps that I have been collecting since 2000, I have tried to gather all possible information about the authors and manufacturers of relief maps and the maps themselves. I first searched the web for information, then extended my search to the French national library and national archives. For these reasons, I have accumulated more information on the manufacturers and French production. I hope that this site will allow me to get in touch with other people interested in this research topic who will be able to complete my own investigations, especially for other countries: if you know of maps in relief from the 19th century not mentioned in this site, if you have additional information, if you have noticed an error or if you simply have a question on this subject, please take the time to send me a message: this is the main purpose of this site!

German beginnings 1820-1840

If terrain or cities models in relief have been manufactured for a long time, it was not until the first half of the 19th century that attempts were made to reproduce these models in greater numbers by mechanized means. During the 1806 exhibition of French industry products, Mr. Alleaume, living in Paris, presented maps in relief that could be reproduced by polytyping (Process to multiply a written sheet by means that belong to the genre of soft engraving or typography. Also known as a reproduction, in cast iron or other metal, of engraved wood and vignettes. Littré) He is rewarded with an honourable mention by the jury but this invention remains without follow-up. The first traces of the marketing of relief maps can be found in Germany (or rather in the German states) in the early 1820s. In Berlin, Karl Willhem KUMMER, globes manufacturer, published in 1822 "Beschreibung von erhaben gearbeiteten oder Relief-Erdkugeln und Landkarten aus feiner und unzerbrechlicher Papiermasse - Sur les globus et les cartes de relief, travaillées d' une masse fine et presque indéstructible" description of his model-making technique. This book marks the beginning of the production of a large number of highly successful relief maps, even abroad. His maps were produced in collaboration with other geographers (including the famous Karl Ritter) in papier-mâché and hand-painted, making them relatively expensive but more accessible than models made entirely by hand. In the Kummer line, other manufacturers appeared in Germany the following decade. In Frankfurt am Main, August RAVENSTEIN has been producing geographical models since the early 1830s and in 1838 he published the first edition of the "plastischer Schul-atlas", which was reissued several times, notably in French and English. This atlas, the first of its kind, will be published in Frankfurt by Dondorf. August Ravenstein is the founder of a map company that still exists today. At the same time, Carl RATH in Heilbronn and L. ERBE in Stuttgart published maps, some of which are kept at the BNF.

The boom of the 1840-1850s: the Bauerkeller company

The real rise of raised relief maps in Europe took place in the 1840s under the impulse of a company founded in Paris in 1836 by German immigrants: Bauerkeller & Cie. The Bauerkeller company was at the origin of a new manufacturing process, patented in Paris in 1840, fully automated and combining lithography and typography. These cards of unparalleled precision, modestly priced, resistant and transportable will then be a huge success in Europe and even in the United States. Between 1839 and the end of the 1850s, Bauerkeller & Co. published relief maps of many parts of the world, as well as a large number of city plans where the buildings were printed in relief.

In Switzerland, where the designers of geographical models are numerous and recognized (Müller, Exchaquet...), printers and manufacturers are less present. J.D. SCHNEITER, from Berne, seems to be the first manufacturer of relief maps with widespread distribution from the 1845s to the late 1870s. Eduard BECK also manufactures maps of Switzerland, which are regularly reprinted between the 1850s and the 1870s, without publishing many maps of other places, but with a Palestine map. In England, Dobbs & Co and the manufacturer Henry J. BRION also published maps during this period.

The dispersal of production after 1860

After Bauerkeller, which had dominated the market for 15 years, ceased production, production of relief maps appeared to be more scattered. While relief maps continue to be produced in Europe, particularly in schools and education, the United States is now the fastest growing country. In Chicago, at the beginning of the 1890s, Central School Supply House published beautiful wall maps from all over the world. Also in France, the school bookshops (Belin, Delagrave) publish wall maps, notably of departments made by teachers such as Melle Kleinhans or M. Pigeonneau.