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A vivid comparative architectural diagram showing over seventy major structures from Europe, the Near East, and antiquity, arranged by height along a shared vertical scale. Issued by Chicago map publisher George F. Cram around 1890, the diagram presents a grand imaginary skyline of domes, spires, obelisks, and pyramids—each precisely labeled and keyed to a captioned list at bottom with building names, locations, and heights in feet.
Notable structures include the Cathedral of Cologne (512 ft), the Pyramid of Giza, the Dome of the Rock, the Parthenon, Hagia Sophia, and the Leaning Tower of Pisa. A color key at the bottom edge identifies materials: red for brick, stone for grey tones, pink for marble, yellow for gold, etc.—a typical feature of cerographic color systems. Buildings are presented at uniform scale, emphasizing vertical ambition and cultural distinction.
The tallest structure is the Wasington Monument (not of the "Old World"...) at 555-feet high.
George F. Cram (1842-1928), or George Franklin Cram, was an American mapmaker and businessman. During the Civil War, Cram served under General William Tecumseh Sherman and participated in his March to the Sea. His letters of that time are now important sources for historians of the Civil War. In 1867, Cram and his uncle, Rufus Blanchard, began the company known by their names in Evanston, Illinois.
Two years later, Cram became sole proprietor and the company was henceforth known as George F. Cram Co. Specializing in atlases, Cram was one of the first American companies to publish a world atlas. One of their most famous products was the Unrivaled Atlas of the World, in print from the 1880s to the 1950s.
Cram died in 1928, seven years after he had merged the business with that of a customer, E.A. Peterson. The new company still bore Cram’s name. Four years later, the Cram Company began to make globes, a branch of the business that would continue until 2012, when the company ceased to operate. For the final several decades of the company’s existence it was controlled by the Douthit family, who sold it just before the company was shuttered.
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