Fantastic bird's-eye view of the Universel Exhibition in Paris, published by Jean Dossary in Brussels. The central view provides an embellished image of the Champs de Mars and the Trocadero, with the extensive temporary structures that housed the monumental event all depicted.
Showing the site just under a decade prior to the construction of the Eiffel Tower for a later world's fair, this poster provides a truly stunning view of Paris as seen from the west. Street names are displayed, and flying over the city is a Mongolfiere (hot air balloon), with French flags.
Along the top, right, and bottom sides of the map is a "Panorama des Palais de L'Exposition," showing the country palaces for all the countries that attended the exposition. Also shown is the railroad building, and an artificial set of caves and waterfalls built especially for the exhibition.
This Paris exhibition of 1878 was held on a far larger scale than any previous world's fair, covering over 66 acres. The Gare du Champ de Mars was rebuilt with four tracks to receive rail traffic occasioned by the exposition. The French exhibits filled one-half of the entire space, with the remaining exhibition space divided among the other nations of the world.
Dossary also published a number of maps following this style, in which a central image is surrounded by a number of individual scenes. This takes after the 17th-century cartes-a-figures mapmaking tradition.