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Monumental map of Mexico, published during Mexico's Imperial period, during the reign of Maximilian I, 1864-1867.

Detailed large format map of Mexico, published in Mexico City, one of the earliest large format maps of Mexico printed in Mexico and perhaps the only map to show the departmental boundaries of the empire of Mexico, as created under Emperor Maximilian of Habsburg.

At the time, Mexico again became an empire under Maximilian of Habsburg (backed by Napoleon III). Maximilian ordered Manuel Orozco y Berra, one of Mexico's greatest geographers, historians and an expert in indigenous languages, to provide a more scientific and orderly division of the Mexican territory. Orozco y Berra proposed a division of Mexico into 50 "Departamentos" or Departments, based on climate, language, geography, natural resources, communications, etc. (which are reflected by the red subdivisions on the map). This division is considered the most logical, functional, and scientific division ever made of Mexico, which unfortunately quickly disappeared in 1867, as soon as Maximilian was executed in Querétaro and Benito Juárez returned to power. The map also reflects Maximilian's division of the empire in 8 military divisions, which appear in Roman numerals on the map, as a means of defending against the threat to the empire by the Juárez forces.

The present edition is the second edition of the map, but the first to show the "Departamentos", etc. The first edition of 1864 does not show these subdivisions because the decree that called for the 8 Military Divisions and the 50 Departments was issued on March 13, 1865.

Decaen & Debray based this map on García Cubas' general map of Mexico, from his 1858 Atlas (even including the boundary lines from the Guadalupe Hidalgo and Gadsden-Mesilla treaties) and his larger map of 1863, which until recently was believed to be the first modern map of Mexico (until the re-discovery of Garcia Cubas' map of 1845).

Prime meridian of the map is in Mexico City. Relief shown by hachures. Includes table of distances, statistical data, comparisons of principal rivers and mountains, two vertical profiles, and insets: Croquis de los caminos de Mexico à Vera-Cruz -- Puerto de Matamoros -- Puerto de Veracruz -- Puerto de Tampico.

The pre-Gadsden Purchase boundary is also noted. This is the second edition, with the boundaries added in red, showing curious subdivisions, including Mapimi and Arizona in the north.

Maximilian's control of Mexico was brief and by May 1867, Mexico had been retaken by Benito Juarez, who had led the resistance against the empire. He had previously served as Mexico's 26th President, from 1858 to 1864 and would again hold the office from 1867 to 1872.

The map is quite rare. We were able to locate only an 1864 edition of the map in the Orozco y Berra Collection of the Mexican National Archives and an 1865 edition in the collections of the Library of Congress, University of Illinois and Bibliotheque Nationale de France.