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Description

A detailed map of early 20th-century Shanghai, The New Map and Street Directory of Shanghai City offers a fascinating glimpse into the city’s complex urban history during a period of major transformation. Created around 1916, it reflects the changes brought by the fall of the Qing dynasty and the rise of the Republic of China.

This map includes an 8-page street index, written in both Russian and English. This bilingual feature highlights Shanghai’s international character and its growing role as a global city. In the early 1900s, Shanghai was changing rapidly due to its status as a treaty port and its involvement in global politics. The addition of Russian text just before many White Russian refugees arrived in the city foreshadowed the cultural diversity that would soon shape Shanghai’s social landscape.

The map captures Shanghai’s territorial growth at the time, showing the boundaries of twelve counties, such as Shanghai County, Songjiang County, and Nanhui County. While covering a larger area than modern Shanghai, its main focus remains on the traditional city limits and the foreign concessions. This dual focus illustrates Shanghai’s identity as both a Chinese city and a center of international trade and culture.

The map does have some inaccuracies. For example, it shows the French Concession’s expansion to Xujiahui only in a small inset, and it underrepresents the size and development of the Japanese, American, and British concessions. Still, it accurately depicts features like the Japanese presence in northern Shanghai, the American concession’s growth, and the British concession’s expansion west of Jing’an Temple. New roads from the early Republic of China era, such as Wei Hai Wei Road and Edward VII Road, are also carefully documented.

The map uses a unique design, featuring an irregular cross-shaped layout to save paper while keeping the scale consistent. This practical but uncommon style reflects Shanghai’s distinctive urban layout and sets this map apart from typical maps of the time.

At least three versions of this map are known to exist, published in 1911, 1916, and 1918, offering a rare and valuable resource for understanding Shanghai’s evolution during a pivotal era in its history.

Condition Description
Color-lithographed map folding into original printed paper covers (backstrip renewed with black cloth). 8-page index in Russian and English.