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A finely printed French map depicting the political and strategic geography of southern Africa on the eve of the Second Anglo-Boer War, adapted from the Carte d’Afrique of the French Service géographique de l’Armée. This separately issued sheet presents the South African Republic (Transvaal), the Orange Free State, and the British colonies of the Cape and Natal, along with surrounding territories such as Bechuanaland, Basutoland, German South-West Africa, and Zululand.
The principal regions are clearly differentiated in pastel tints: the Cape Colony in pink, the Orange Free State in pale yellow, the Transvaal in green. Topography is rendered with fine hachuring. Place names, native territories, missionary stations, and mining towns are densely labeled. The coastline notes major ports such as Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, East London, and Durban (Port Natal).
Though undated, the political configuration indicates a date between 1896 and 1899, prior to the British annexation of the Boer republics. The publication by Librairie Plon, an active purveyor of geopolitical commentary and travel writing, coincides with increased French interest in southern Africa, as seen in contemporary Plon titles like Albert Bordeaux’s Rhodésie et Transvaal.
Manuscript Annotations
This example bears contemporary annotations in red and blue pencil, likely added in the early months of the Second Anglo-Boer War. Kimberley and Ladysmith, both under siege in late 1899, are each encircled and marked with arrows in blue. Red pencil defines the areas around Murraysburg.
![Coutumes Moeurs & Habillemens des Peuples Qui Habitent aux Environs du Cap de Bonne Esperance avec une Description des Animaux et Reptiles qui set truvent dans ce Pais [Customs, Manners, and Attire of the Peoples Who Inhabit the Vicinity of the Cape of Good Hope, with a Description of the Animals and Reptiles Found in this Country.]](https://storage.googleapis.com/raremaps/img/small/89738.jpg)
![North Africa [with] South Africa](https://storage.googleapis.com/raremaps/img/small/48322.jpg)
