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A rare and fascinating map showing the postal routes in much of France, Germany, Northern Italy, Switzerland and the Low Countries.
This fine map embraces West-Central Europe, and extends from London in the extreme northwest, over to Berlin in the northeast, and down to Venice in the southeast, and over to Lyon and central France in the southwest. Its purpose was to illustrate the postal routes between Europe's major centers during the period just before the telegraph when overland mail was the only form of communication across Europe.
Politically, while France and Switzerland occupy their modern boundaries, Germany is still divided into numerous states (as would remain the case until 1870), and Belgium had only recently (in 1839) gained its independence from the Netherlands. Notably, the Kingdom of Sardinia occupies northeastern Italy, while northwestern Italy (including Milan and Turin) is shown to be part of the Austrian Hapsburg Empire.
As shown on the map, every major post road is carefully delineated, along with triangles of lines noting the linear distance between centers, all information that would have been very useful to those both those operating and utilizing the postal system. Indicating that the map was imbued with a practical purpose, various routes are heightened in orange in manuscript.
The present map was lithographed by the firm of F. Tessaro in Antwerp, and although not directly copied, is closely based on Carl Jügel's Post u. Reise Karte von Deutschland (1843). That map was commissioned by the Princely House of Thurn und Taxis, which between 1806 and 1867, was commissioned to run the postal system throughout the Austrian Empire and the German states.
The present map is rare, we are not aware of another example appearing in dealers' catalogs or at auction during the last 25 years.
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