1853 Allen Map of Steamship Routes from England to India, Singapore, and China

A striking 1853 large scale map by W. H. Allen detailing both overland and steamship routes between England, India, Australia, and East Asia. It illustrates the height of the steamship trade between far flung British colonies in the decades before the construction of the Suez Canal. The present example features numerous manuscript updates, some in pencil, tracing additional steamship lines run by Oriental-Lloyds-Shanghai and Eastern Atlantic. In addition, further highlighting in red illustrates telegraph lines.

A Closer Look

Centered roughly on British India, coverage embraces from Brazil to New Zealand and from England to Tasmania. The map's focus is on commercial steamship lines from England, to and around Africa, India, Australia, Singapore, and China. Seven lines were included when the map was printed, with three additional lines added in manuscript by one of the map's previous readers. In addition, it has been updated with bold red lines to illustrate the global telegraph network. Some of the additional manuscript work is in pencil, most is sloppy, and much of it is erasable, but we have left this content due to its considerable historical interest. There are additional inset maps focusing on Mesopotamia and the Nile Valley.

Historical Context - Steamers to China

In 1818, the first steamship voyage between England and China was accomplished by the Maid of Judah, which sailed from London to Canton (Guangzhou) via the Cape of Good Hope. The voyage took 165 days, much faster than the usual 6 to 9 months by sail. It, nonetheless, was not until 1835 that a regular steamship route was established by the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, which ran from London to Alexandria, Egypt, and then on to Bombay (Mumbai), India, and Canton. By the late 1840s, the Peninsular and Oriental established regular fortnightly service. In 1869 the completion of the Suez Canal increased both the volume, efficiency, and practicality of this voyage.

Publication History and Census

This map was engraved by John Walker and published in London in 1853 by William. H. Allen, likely for the British East India Company. The map is scarce. We note just three examples in institutional collections: the British Library, the National Library of Australia, and the State Library of New South Wales. The present example is made unique by numerous manuscript updates. It features a signature on the verso of one Seymour A. Slane, but we have been unable to pin this figure down.