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A finely engraved political map of northwest Germany as redefined by the post-Napoleonic settlement, drawn and published by James Wyld in 1843 to reflect territorial boundaries established by the Treaty of Paris (1814–1815).
This detailed map illustrates the political geography of northwestern Germany in the mid-19th century, focusing on the Kingdom of Hanover and its adjacent polities within the German Confederation. Territories are distinctly outlined in color, as clarified in the legend at lower right, including the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg, the Duchy of Brunswick, the principalities of Lippe-Detmold and Schauenburg-Lippe, and the free Hanseatic cities of Bremen, Hamburg, and Lübeck.
The Treaty of Paris (1814), reaffirmed by the Congress of Vienna (1815), formally recognized the elevation of Hanover from an electorate to a kingdom and reconfigured the territorial boundaries of the German states following the Napoleonic Wars. Hanover was restored and expanded with new lands, including the bishoprics of Hildesheim and Osnabrück. This map reflects these realignments, showing Hanover in its enlarged post-1815 form. Notably, the personal union between Great Britain and Hanover, established in 1714 with the accession of George I, ended in 1837 when Queen Victoria ascended the British throne, as Hanover’s succession laws barred a female monarch.
James Wyld Sr. (1790-1836) was a British cartographer and one of Europe’s leading mapmakers. He made many contributions to cartography, including the introduction of lithography into map printing in 1812.
William Faden, another celebrated cartographer, passed down his mapmaking business to Wyld in 1823. The quality and quantity of Faden’s maps, combined with Wyld’s considerable skill, brought Wyld great prestige.
Wyld was named geographer to Kings George IV and William IV, as well as HRH the Duke of York. In 1825, he was elected an Associate of the Institution of Civil Engineers. He was one of the founding members of the Royal Geographical Society in 1830. Also in 1830, his son, James Wyld Jr., took over his publishing house. Wyld Sr. died of overwork on October 14, 1836.
James Wyld Jr. (1812-87) was a renowned cartographer in his own right and he successfully carried on his father’s business. He gained the title of Geographer to the Queen and H.R.H. Prince Albert. Punch (1850) described him in humorous cartographic terms, “If Mr. Wyld’s brain should be ever discovered (we will be bound he has a Map of it inside his hat), we should like to have a peep at it, for we have a suspicion that the two hemispheres must be printed, varnished, and glazed, exactly like a pair of globes.”
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