1897 Garcia y Cubas Map of Puebla, Mexico

An exquisite chromolithographed map of the Mexican state of Puebla, published in 1897 for the Atlas Geográfico de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos.

A Closer Look

The state of Puebla is divided into districts, which are color-shaded for easy distinction. Cities, towns, haciendas, ranchos, mines, ruins, mountains, rivers, roads, and railways are labeled throughout. Latitude and longitude are provided along the edge of the map, with the latter being measured from Mexico City, which is only roughly 65 miles to the northwest of the state's capital city, Puebla.

Historical Context

Like most of Mexico, the history of Puebla in the years preceding this map's publication was defined by modernization projects such as roads and railways, which are so numerous here that the individual company's lines are indicated differently to more easily distinguish them. Puebla played an important role as a gateway between Mexico City and Veracruz on the Gulf of Mexico to the east and to points further south. Moreover, rivers fed by runoff from the volcanic mountains Iztaccíhuatl and Popocatépetl were ideal for developing a textile industry in the cities of the state's western portion. At the same time, social inequality and political repression caused widespread unrest in Puebla towards the end of the Porfiriato (1876 - 1911), with the government's murder of opposition politician Aquiles Serdán in Puebla in 1910 being a catalyst for the Mexican Revolution.

Publication History and Census

This map was published in Mexico City in 1897 by Vega y Cie. It is based on the 1886 work of Antonio García Cubas and was updated with additional border work for the 1897 issue of the Atlas Geográfico de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos. The atlas is represented in several institutional collections but is extremely scarce on the market. The individual maps, likewise, are scarce to the market.