Der Isthmus von Panama.

Article description

Original antique lithograph, published by Justus Perthes in Gotha for 'Petermanns Geographische Mitteilungen', 1861. Lithograph, original hand color in outline. Sheet: 246 by 432mm (9¾ by 17 inches).. August Heinrich Petermann (1822–1878) was one of the most important German cartographers and geographers of the 19th century. Born in Bleicherode, Saxony, he trained at the Geographische Kunstschule in Potsdam under Heinrich Berghaus — himself a leading student of Alexander von Humboldt. After a formative decade in Edinburgh and London (1845–1854), where he gained broad experience in the commercial and scientific aspects of cartography, Petermann returned to Gotha and joined the Justus Perthes publishing house. In 1855 he founded 'Petermanns Geographische Mitteilungen' (PGM), which swiftly became one of the world's foremost geographical journals — the definitive record of the great age of exploration and discovery. Petermann personally produced over 500 maps and signed 226 articles in PGM, ranging across Africa, the Polar regions, Asia, and the history and practice of cartography. In 1902, the eminent British cartographer J. G. Bartholomew wrote: 'No one has done more than he to advance modern cartography.' His maps are held in major institutions worldwide, including the Library of Congress, the British Library, and the Bibliothèque nationale de France. An interesting and detailed old map of the Isthmus of Panama from the Carabean Sea with Limon or Navy Bay to the Pacific Ocean. The map is based on the cartographic sources by G.M. Totten in 1857 and DR Moritz Wagner 1858. With many engraved details and explanations also on mountains. In excellent condition. The map was originally published folded, so that the old folds are still slightly visible.

Petermann, A. – Panama · Lithograph · Petermanns Geographische Mitteilungen, Gotha · 1861