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1928 Terezia and Janos Pictorial Zoological Wall Map of Africa in Hungarian
Afrika-terezia-1928$1,500.00
Title
Afrika. Jellemzöbb Gerinces Állatai.
1928 (undated) 35 x 30.5 in (88.9 x 77.47 cm) 1 : 11000000
1928 (undated) 35 x 30.5 in (88.9 x 77.47 cm) 1 : 11000000
Description
This is Baloghné Hajós Terézia and Bálint János' striking 1928 Hungarian-language pictorial and zoological wall map of Africa.
A Closer Look
The focus is on zoology, with 33 dramatically illustrated African animals dominating the continent. These include an elephant, lion, giraffe, sperm whale, Nile crocodile, water buffalo, hippopotamus, ring-tailed lemur, camel, aardvark, chimpanzee, gorilla, ostrich, and flamingo, among others. While African political geography is mostly ignored, a handful of countries, including Senegal, Egypt, and Somalia, are referenced. Two of Africa's great lakes, Lake Tanganyika and Lake Nyasa (Lake Malawi), are illustrated, along with the Congo, Nile, and Zambezi Rivers. A table in the lower left divides the animals into mammals, birds, and reptiles.Publication History and Census
This map was designed by Baloghné Hajós Terézia and drawn by Bálint János c. 1928. It was printed by the Magyar Királyi Állami Térképészet, or Royal Hungarian State Cartography. We have good reason to believe there are other similar maps covering all continents, but we are aware of surviving examples only of Africa and Asia. In 1928, Terézia issued a zoological atlas incorporating a reduced version of these maps; lacking further evidence, we have followed this date. This is the only wall map example we have identified.Cartographer
Magyar Királyi Állami Térképészet (1867 - 1952), translated 'Royal Hungarian State Cartography,' was a Hungarian government map publishing house active the early 20th centuries. The organization can trace its origins to the Austro–Hungarian Compromise of 1867, which gave Hungary marginal independence with the right to establish its own civil cartography - thus issuing tourist maps, school maps, cadastral plans, etc. More detailed topographical cartography remained under Austrian jurisdiction. This changed in 1918, during World War I, when Hungarian military leadership commissioned Colonel Lajos Hajts (1866 - 1933), professor of the Ludovika Military Academy, to lay the framework for a Hungarian State Cartography. This led to the formation on February 4, 1919, of the Hungarian Military Mapping Group. This organization was based on the Austrian Militärgeographisches Institut model. The name changed in 1921 to Magyar Királyi Katonai Térképészeti Intézet (Royal Hungarian Military Mapping Institute) and shortly thereafter to Magyar Királyi Állami Térképészet (Royal Hungarian State Cartography). In 1938, the name again changed, this time to the Katonai Térképészeti Intézet (Military Mapping Institute). The the Katonai Térképészeti Intézet was folded into the Soviet-style Ministry of Defense in 1952. More by this mapmaker...
Condition
Good. Backed on archival tissue for stability. Exhibits crackling and soiling. Areas of infill in upper right corner.