1911 Ludwig Folding Map of Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, and Paraguay

A vividly-colored large-format 1911 folding map of southern South America (Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, and Paraguay), published in Buenos Aires by Pablo Ludwig. It depicts the region in the wake of large-scale immigration and expansion of infrastructure, especially in the vicinity of Buenos Aires and in the regions to the city's south.

A Closer Look

Focusing of Ludwig's home country of Argentina, colored outlines distinguish provinces and governorships. Portions or the entirety of neighboring countries - Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile, Brazil, and Bolivia, along with the disputed Falkland Islands - are also included with their own subdivisions also outlined, though in the same color (Yellow for Chile, Pink for Brazil, and so on). A legend at bottom-left explains symbols and lines indicating cities and other settlements, forts, rail lines (including those under construction and planned), roads, telegraph lines and undersea cables, wetlands, and salt flats. In contrast, the interior of Paraguay is notable for its paucity of information, mostly detailing former and contemporary religious missions. An inset towards bottom-right portrays the vicinity of Buenos Aires. An intricate border surrounds the map, with the initials of the República Argentina at the corners and the country's coat of arms at top.

To the Ends of the Continent

This map was produced on the tail end of a period of territorial expansion and mass European immigration to Argentina. The regions south of Buenos Aires had hardly any European-descended settlers in 1850, but a successive process of conquest, infrastructure construction (ports, roads, and railways), and immigration transformed the landscape, with new arrivals establishing farms and pastures for livestock. The tremendous density of rail and trolley lines around Buenos Aires demonstrates where settlement was most dense, while Patagonia remained undeveloped and sparsely populated. In neighboring Chile, a similar process took place on a smaller scale in the Llanquihue Province and the Magallanes Territory. Despite a history of territorial disputes, economic motives promoted the linking of Argentina and Chile across the Andes, with a rail line between Mendoza and Santiago becoming operational in 1910, just one year before this map's publication.

Publication History and Census

This map was designed and published by Pablo Ludwig and printed by Gunche, Wiebeck y Turtl in Buenos Aires in 1911. Ludwig published this folding map in editions from 1910 through 1919, all of which are quite rare now. We are only able to locate two examples of the 1911 edition in institutional collections, at the National Library of Australia and the Bibliothèque nationale de France.