1891 Maschek / Laemmert City Map of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

This is the rare 1891 large-scale edition of Eduardo Maschek's map of Rio de Janeiro, considered the best map to illustrate the liminal moment between the city's prominence as an old imperial capital and its emergence as a modern economic powerhouse. The map captures Rio on the brink of modernization when, flush with American and European capital, it was embarking on large-scale infrastructure and urban development. Archeologists and historians have used the example of this map preserved at the Biblioteca Luso-Brasileira to rediscover lost monuments of Rio de Janeiro's past, from forgotten neighborhoods to vanished hippodromes.

A Closer Look

Coverage embraces from the Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon to Benfica and from Fortaleza de São João to Ponta do Caju. The map employs clever shading conventions to emphasize Rio de Janeiro's dramatic geography, ranging from steep mountain peaks, to expansive beaches, to mangrove swamps - details that some historians have argued slowly disappeared on maps issued between 1890 and the 1920s. Throughout, important buildings, streets, neighborhoods, and the famous donkey-tram routes are illustrated. There are some minor manuscript annotations here and there, out of which we have been unable to tease meaning.

Donkey Trams of Rio

The map prominently illustrates Rio de Janeiro's donkey-pulled trams, first introduced in 1859. These include the Companhia de São Cristóvão, Companhia Vila Isabel, and the Botanical Rail Road Company. This last, with its obvious English-language name, was owned by New York investor Charles Greenough, underscoring the vast investment that poured into Brazil from the United States in the second half of the 19th century. The donkey trams were phased out from 1905, when they were replaced with electric streetcars.

Rio Modernizing

In the early 1890s, Rio de Janeiro was undergoing a period of prosperity and rapid urbanization. Following the overthrow of the monarchy and Brazil's proclamation of the Republic in 1889, Rio, as the capital, was at the heart of the new nation's political and cultural rebirth. This era was marked by a fervent push towards modernization, heavily influenced by European trends, particularly in architecture and urban planning. The city's elite, driven by a desire to showcase Brazil's progress on the world stage, initiated extensive renovation projects. This period also witnessed the early stages of the city's famous Carnival, an event that blended African, Indigenous, and European traditions, reflecting the diverse cultural tapestry of Rio de Janeiro.

Provenance

A note on the verso states that this map was acquired on September 9, 1892 in Rio de Janeiro by Aug. Winand while traveling with his 'colleague' P. Dommanget. Winand held the post of Conducteur des Ponts et Chaussées. We can find no further record of either figure.

Chromolithography

Chromolithography, sometimes called oleography, is a color lithographic technique developed in the mid-19th century. The process involved using multiple lithographic stones, one for each color, to yield a rich composite effect. Oftentimes, the process would start with a black basecoat upon which subsequent colors were layered. Some chromolithographs used 30 or more separate lithographic stones to achieve the desired product. Chromolithograph color could also be effectively blended for even more dramatic results. The process became extremely popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries when it emerged as the dominant method of color printing. The vivid color chromolithography produced made it exceptionally effective for advertising and propaganda imagery.

Publication History and Census

This chromolithograph map was compiled by the military and civil engineer Eduardo Maschek. It was engraved in Leipzig by Giesecke and Devrient, and published in Rio de Janeiro by Laemmert e Cia. There has been considerable scholarly debate regarding the actual date of this map, ranging from 1885 to 1900. We can lay this to rest. The Laemmert firm was renamed 'Laemmert e Cia', as here, In 1891. Manuscript on the verso confirms that this map was acquired by a Belgian traveler, 'Aug. Winand', in 1892. These data points suggest the map must have been printed in 1891. There are two versions, this one at 1:10000, and a more common half-sized variant at 1:20000. The map is extremely scarce in this large-scale edition. We note a single confirmed example of this edition at the Biblioteca do Senado Federal, and nowhere else. Other examples appear to be either the 1:20000 edition (we note 3 in OCLC), or digitized from the Senado Federal example.