"[Lot of 2] New South Wales [and] Victoria, or Port Phillip", Tallis, John

The maps from The Illustrated Atlas were first published in serial form to a target audience that led insular lives due to the expense and hardship of travel. All that changed as the progress of the nineteenth century brought swift and dramatic changes in public awareness of far away places. Tallis' maps no doubt played an important role in this dramatic awakening. These maps not only provided up-to-date geographical knowledge, but also used vignette views within the map's design to show the native people and their occupations, cities and points of interest. The maps hark back to a cartographic tradition from the Dutch mapmakers of the seventeenth century with finely engraved decorative borders. The maps were drawn and engraved by John Rapkin with views drawn and engraved by a number of prominent artists. The maps were issued as a complete volume from 1851 until about 1865. Some of the maps were also published in other history books published by Tallis including British Colonies and, without the vignettes, in geographical dictionaries and encyclopedias until about 1880.

A. New South Wales (9.8 x 13.4"). Lovely map of New South Wales with remarkable detail along the coastline. The map predates the discovery of gold in New South Wales and does not contain the notations concerning gold diggings found in later issues. Well rendered vignettes of the Seal of New South Wales, Sydney Cove, The Murray and a plant called Xanthorrhaea. The large vignette of Sydney is a lovely bird's-eye view from the harbor. Condition: Original outline color with minor soiling. (A)

B. Victoria, or Port Phillip (12.8 x 10.3"). Superb map of Victoria roughly centered on Melbourne. Vignettes of Aborigines, a kangaroo, the River Glenelg and a large view of Melbourne across the water with a sailing ship and two early steam ships maneuvering in the foreground. Condition: Original outline color with minor soiling and very short fold separations at top and bottom and a couple of tiny edge tears that have all been closed on verso with archival tape. (B+)

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See description above.