1878 Migeon Map of the German Empire

This is a fine example of J. Migeon's 1878 map of the German empire. It covers the German Confederation from the Baltic Sea to the Adriatic Sea and from France to the Austro-Hungarian empire. The lower left quadrant features a table listing the states of the German Confederation. In the upper right quadrant there is a beautiful decorative illustration of Mayence (Mainz).

The German Confederation, created in 1814, acted as a buffer zone between Austria and Prussia, its two largest and most powerful member states. Nonetheless the rivalry between the two powerful states intensified until the outbreak of the Austro-Prussian War. Prussia won the Austro-Prussian War in 1866, ultimately leading to the collapse of the German Confederation. A few years later, in 1871, most of the former Confederation states were folded into the newly proclaimed German empire.

Migeon identifies various railway lines, rivers, mountain passes and other topographical features. Migeon's Geographie Universelle, published in Paris, is one of the last great decorative atlases of the 19th century. It contains many stylistic elements of early 19th century cartography such as full hand coloring, numerous decorative vignettes, and high quality paper. This map was issued as plate no. 19 in Migeon's Geographie Universelle.