Raffelsperger, Franz, 1793-1861

1829

Übersicht der Packetboot- und Dampfschiff-Fahrt-Verbindungen des Europäischen Continentes (Overview of Packet Boat and Steamship Connections between Europe and Overseas Ports)

Franz, Raffelsperger

Vienna

Separate Map

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Národní muzeum (Prague): 1380737; Moravská zemská knihovna v Brně (Brno, Czech Republic): STMpa-1257.626. Cf. [On Raffelsperger:] Constantin von Wurzbach, ’Raffelsperger, Franz’, in Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich, vol. 24 (Vienna, 1872), pp. 225–7; Hans Wolff, 400 Jahre Mercator, 400 Jahre Atlas (Weißenhorn, Germany: A.H. Konrad, 1995), p. 237; [Re: Online Bibliography of Raffelsperger’s work:] Reinhard Müller, ‘Franz Raffelsperger’, University of Graz, Austria (June 2008): http://agso.uni-gra…

World

Europe

Data Visualization

Transportation

Shipping

Versuch einer Übersicht der Packetboot- und Dampfschiff-Fahrt-Verbindungen des Europäischen Continentes mit seinen nächsten überseeischen Umgebungen und der vorzüglichsten Wasserfahrten in dessen Innerem. Nach den neuesten officiellen Angaben verfasst, gezeichnet und herausgegeben von Franz Raffelsperger, Mitglied der Geographischen Gesellschaft in Paris. Wien 1829. Eigenthum des Verfassers. [Attempt at an Overview of Packet Boat and Steamship Connections between Europe and Overseas Ports as well as the Best Navigable Routes within the Interior. After the Latest Official Information, Authored, Drawn and Edited by Franz Raffelsperger, Member of the Geographical Society of Paris. Vienna 1829. Author’s rights reserved].

10504.000

Raffelsperger, Franz, 1793-1861

1829

Versuch einer Übersicht der Packetboot- und Dampfschiff-Fahrt-Verbindungen des Europäischen Continentes mit seinen nächsten überseeischen Umgebungen und der vorzüglichsten Wasserfahrten in dessen Innerem. Nach den neuesten officiellen Angaben verfasst, gezeichnet und herausgegeben von Franz Raffelsperger, Mitglied der Geographischen Gesellschaft in Paris. Wien 1829. Eigenthum des Verfassers. [Attempt at an Overview of Packet Boat and Steamship Connections between Europe and Overseas Ports as well as the Best Navigable Routes within the Interior. After the Latest Official Information, Authored, Drawn and Edited by Franz Raffelsperger, Member of the Geographical Society of Paris. Vienna 1829. Author’s rights reserved].

"The first edition of an extremely rare, ingeniously designed map of the shipping connections between Europe and ports all over the world, notably being one of the earliest thematic maps to integrate Australia; the most intriguing and sophisticated work of the eccentric proto-modernist cartographer Franz Raffelsperger. This is perhaps the most ingenious and intriguing work of thematic cartography we have ever encountered. It was created by Franz Raffelsperger, an eccentric Austrian postal official who out of a personal obsession, produced incredible thematic maps of proto-modernist designs that were decades ahead of their time. The present map brilliantly employs abstraction to create novel visual representations of the routes of packet (mail) boat steamships, labelling the travel times (in days) between innumerable ports on six continents. Importantly, this incredible map is one of the first thematic maps to integrate Australia. In 1829, steamships were a relatively novel technology (and very new viz. widespread use) that were then revolutionising global transportation. Additionally, the system of packet boats had been dramatically improved since the conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars, with far more routes and frequent services all around the world. A letter could then travel from Sydney, Australia to Paris with great reliability, whereas in previous times such an effort would be ‘hit and miss’. The map creatively employs several abstracted space-time levels to render the numerous shipping routes in manner that is visually captivating, while challenging the viewer to transcend their conventional perceptions of linear travel. To begin our journey into the map, let us, at least initially, ignore the mapping in the centre of the work, as well as the insets (to which we will return later), to focus upon the three concentric elliptical rings that dominate the composition. The innermost ring, ‘Europäische Continental-Häfen’ [European Continental Harbours], abstracts mainland Europe (excluding Scandinavia) into an oval with its main ports (placed within the appropriate nations, distinguished by different hues) located around its edges. The next ring outwards, ‘Überseeische Puncte in Europa’ [Overseas Points in Europe], coloured in blue, includes ports in the British Isles, Scandinavia and the Mediterranean islands (ex. Sicily), with offshoots labelling Iceland and even the Caspian Sea (entered via St. Petersburg, various canals and the Volga River). The third, most outward, ring, coloured green, ‘Fremde Welttheile’ [Foreign Ports], labels harbours in the Americas, Asia, Africa and Australia. In the upper left, this ring covers North America, labelling ports such as New Orleans, Savannah, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York and Boston. Further down, are West Indian destinations such as Jamaica, Havana and Puerto Rico; while in the lower-left of the map are South American ports, such as Bahia, Rio and Buenos Aires. Moving down to the bottom of the ring, one passes Jamestown, St Helena, before arriving at Cape Town. From there, the map features a curious twist, with an additional level to the ring featuring ports in India; Canton, China; and Sydney (described as being in New South Wales, Australia). Returning to the main most outward ring, one can follow the Africa ports from Cape Town to the rightwards, including Algiers, Tunis and Alexandria. Beyond that, in the lower-right of the map, is Smyrna (Izmir), Turkey, with the map noting overland caravan routes to places such as Baghdad, Basra (joining the Persian Gulf) and Persia itself, eventually leading to and Surat, India. Critically, the ports along the rings are connected by dotted lines following common and logical shipping routes, labelled with the average travel times by steamship, in days. Notably, the map is one of the earliest abstract thematic works to integrate Australia; if one wanted to travel from London to Sydney (following a logical route, via Jamestown (St. Helena), Cape Town and Madras), such a journey would take between 173 and 213 days. Other notable journeys include London to Canton which would take 143 to 183 days; London to New York, 27 to 34 days; and Falmouth (England) to Rio de Janeiro, 50 to 55 days. The very centre of the map, within the innermost (European Continental) ring, features three inset maps. The central (coloured) inset, ‘Verbindungen Dänemark’s mit Schweden und Norwegen, über den kleinen und grossen Belt und über den Sund’ [Connections between Denmark, Sweden and Norway, across the Small and Big Belt and across the Sound], depicts the vital travel corridor through the straits at the mouth of the Baltic Sea, with lines bearing travel times (in hours) between main points in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, as well as northern Germany. The inset to the left, ‘Dampfschiff-Fahrten zwischen Strassburg, Cöln, Rotterdam und London’ [Steamboat Connections between Strasbourg, Cologne, Rotterdam and London], portrays shipping connections through the Rhine River system, while the inset on the right, ‘Verbindungen Venedig’s mit dem festen Lande’ [Connections of Venice with the Surrounding Country], depicts Venice’s river and canal connections to points across Northern Italy, as well as to various ports along the northern Adriatic Sea. The upper part of the map features three additional insets. In the upper-right corner, is ‘Londons vorzüglichste überseeische Fahrt-Verbindungen’ [London’s Exquisite Overseas Connections], which is a radial chart that shows the direct sailing times, by steamship, from London to various ports all around the globe. London them possessed the most extensive maritime connections in the world. To the immediate left of the London chart, is ‘Vorzügliche Dampfboot-Verbindungen in Nord-Amerika’ [Steamboat Connections within North America], showcasing the shipping routes along the eastern seaboard of North America, plus the internal steamship routes up the Mississippi River system, all the way from New Orleans to Pittsburgh. Finally, the inset in the upper-left corner, ‘Packetboot-Verbindungen zwischen England und Westindien und über den Isthmus von Darien mit dem Peruanischen und Chilesischen Häfen in Süd-Amerika am Stillen Oceane’ [Packet Boat Connections between England and the West Indies and then over the Isthmus of Darien (Panama) to the Peruvian and Chilean Harbours in South America on the Pacific Ocean], depicts the shipping routes and travel times (in days) between London, various ports in the West Indies, and then over the isthmus of Panama to sail on towards Pacific ports in Peru and Chile. The present map was produced in two editions, both of which are extremely rare. The present example is of the first edition, which was privately printed for Raffelsperger in Vienna in 1829. It was a ‘boutique’ production printed in only a handful of examples for circulation within Raffelsperger’s intellectual-professional circle. We can trace only 2 institutional examples, both in the Czech Republic, at the Národní muzeum (Prague) and the Moravská zemská knihovna v Brně (Brno). We are not aware of any other examples as having appeared on the market. The second edition of the map was issued in 1834, and is identical to the first issue save for the change in date. It was not published separately, but as past of Raffelsperger’s extremely rare atlas, Europäischer Post- und Reise-Atlas (Vienna: Aus der Buchdruckerey der Witwe Stöckholzer von Hirschfeld, 1834), which contained four maps, the first being the steamship map, while the remaining three maps concerned travel in Europe. The atlas has, to the best of our knowledge, appeared only once the market (which we had the privilege of handling), and beyond that is known in only 3 institutional examples. Franz Raffelsperger: A Greatly Underappreciated Proto-Modernist Mapmaker Franz Raffelsperger (1793 - 1861) [often spelled ‘Raffelsberger’] was one of the most fascinating and underappreciated mapmakers of the 19th Century, responsible for innovative, proto-modernist map designs and unusual printing techniques. That he is not better known today is likely due to the boutique nature of his work; most of his maps were produced in only very limited print runs intended for specialists, and so did not gain a mass audience. Yet his maps were treasured by those who utilized thematic cartography, as well as a circle of leading Austro-Hungarian academics. Raffelsperger was born in Modra, in today’s Slovakia (then part of Hapsburg Hungary). In 1820, he gained employment at the Austrian Postal Directorate in Vienna, where he became fascinated with postal cartography. He was given special access to mapping and information in the directorate’s archives and he proceeded to draft several postal-travel maps, often featuring innovative, proto-modernist designs, decades ahead of their time. While these early maps were privately published at Raffelsperger’s own cost, the directorate endorsed his work and assisted in their marketing. In 1835, Raffelsperger began experimenting with different printing methods, especially publishing maps with letterpress. In 1837, he received a privilege for printing maps through this technique. As he did not own a printing shop, he sub-contracted the presses of various Viennese publishers. In 1839, Raffelsperger received a gold medal in Vienna for his industrial achievements, although he continued to produce his maps in a boutique fashion, in limited print runs. In 1841, Raffelsperger published the first edition of this atlas of Austria, Erster Typometrischer Atlas für Geschäftsleute jeder Art, Gymnasien, Schulen und Zeitungsleser. It featured 15 maps of different scales, some of which were printed on two pages. In 1843, he published an atlas of Europe with 24 maps. While Raffelsperger is best known for his separately published maps of the Austrian Empire, showing postal routes and railways, he also published maps of Paris, Budapest and Warsaw. Curiously, he also produced non-cartographic, such as portraits and works of unusual typography, including prints bearing Chinese letters and proofs of oriental scripts. In 1843, Raffelsperger founded his own company, K. K. außerordentlich ausschließlich privilegierte typograph.-geograph. Kunstanstalt (the Emperor’s exclusively privileged typographical-geographical art workshop) in Vienna. However, only a year later he ran into trouble with Viennese book publishers who accused him of creating a “disturbance”, as he was printing not only maps, but also accompanying text, against the regulations of the book printers’ guild. Raffelsperger was compelled to move to Leipzig, Saxony, where he was finally able to operate his enterprise as he saw fit. In addition to maps, he specialized in broadsides and newspapers, including the Der Unpartheiische. Although active as a mapmaker and publisher, Raffelsperger for many years maintained his position at the Austrian Postal Directorate; however, due to a contretemps, he was suspended from his post in 1849, and dismissed in 1851. During the last decade of his life, Raffelsperger became something of a recluse and vanished into his academic writing and publishing." (Alexander Johnson, 2020)

10504.000

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Raffelsperger, Franz, 1793-1861