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Description

Fine hand drawn map of Australia and New Zealand, by M. Bonnefoy of l'École de Commerce de Lyon.

The map is filled with small images depicting agriculture, mining and other commercial products in various parts of Australia.  The map also illustrates all the Telegraph lines in Australia, including the undersea telegraph cable between Java and Port Darwin underwater telegraph cable, the first to connect Australia via Asia to Europe and England.

The map identifies "Alexandra Territoire".  This would be the region named by John McDouall Stuart after his 1862 expedition across Central Australia from south to north. His expedition mapped out the route which was later followed by the Australian Overland Telegraph Line, which is shown on the map (and completed in 1872, with a line to Western Australia added in 1877, which is note shown on the map).  Stuart suggested the name  "Alexandra Land", to honor of the Princess of Wales. The name was adopted in 1865 for the portion South of 16°S of what is now the Northern Territory.  The

The map was drawn by M. Bonnefoy of l'École de Commerce de Lyon.  Founded in 1872, the school was founded to promote the study of business, the school was renamed Ecole Supérieure de Commerce et de Tissage de Lyon in 1876.

The creation of the map coincides with the founding of the Société de Géographie de Lyon in 1873.  The SGL diffused geographical knowledge by means of lectures and publications from 1873 to 1968, sharing accounts of missionary activity, exploration, colonization and foreign trade satisfied popular fascination for the exotic, and also generated potentially useful information for the city’s merchants and industrialists at the time when the French empire reached its peak. 

Condition Description
Minor chipping around the edges, just affecting the hand drawn image.