Friedrich Heinrich Jeppe (July 25, 1834 - July 17, 1898) was a German publisher, spy, and mapmaker active in South Africa during the second half of the 19th century. Jeppe was born in Rostock, Germany and relocated to South Africa with his two brothers in 1861. Although initial merchants, F. H. Jeppe took a position as postmaster in Potchefstrom, and later, became Postmaster-General of the Transvaal Republic, a position he maintained until 1875 - when he lost his appointment to political maneuvering. Jeppe published numerous important large-format maps of the Transvaal and South Africa from about 1867 onwards. He also published the Transvaal Almanac and Directory from about 1877 onwards. Also in that year, 1877, he was commissioned as Government Translator and Controller of Statistics in the office of the Colonial Secretary. Eventually he obtained the position of Chief Draughtsman in the Department of the Surveyor-General. There is considerable evidence to suggest that Jeppe was a British agent that actively channelled cartographic information to British authorities until the time of his death. Jeppe became ill with liver disease early in 1898 and died in Pretoria on July 17 of 1898 (interred at the Old Cemetery, Pretoria.) On the eve of his death, he was still actively working on his most ambitious map, and his final missive to friend and government official Johann Rissik, requested assistance to his son, Carlos Friedrich Wilhelm (Charles) Jeppe (1870 - 1900), in publishing the completed map. The massive 6-sheet map was finally published in 1899 - just in time for the Second Boer War (1899 - 1902). Although published posthumously, Jeppe's 1899 Map of the Transvaal or S.A. Republic. The maps was used by both sides during the war and proved one of the finest and most important maps of South Africa ever published. More by this mapmaker...

Jakob Schlumpf (August 7, 1857 - May 21, 1916) was a swiss printer based in Winterthur, Zurich, Switzerland. Schlumpf was born in Winterthur in 1857. He mastered lithography in French-speaking Switzerland from 1875 to 1879 before returning to Winterthur to set up his own press, Schnellpresse, in 1879. There he employed and trained his brother Heinrich Schlumpf. In 1890, he joined forces with Johann Randegger (1830 - 1900), who had earlier taken over the firm 'Joh. Wurster und Comp,' originally founded by Johann Ulrich Wurster (1814 - 1880) in 1842. The firm was renamed 'Wurster, Randegger und Cie.,' Schlumpf being the 'Cie.' As the youngest partner, the work of the firm fell increasingly on his shoulders, as did its good name. From 1890, when the elder surviving partner, Randegger, retired it was renamed 'Topographische Anstalt J. Schlumpf'. Under Schlumpf, the firm developed the novel technique of printing chromolithographic color on waxed silk or linen - a service popular with alpine enthusiasts, the military, and other enterprises that required durable filed maps. The publishing house adopted its last name, 'Kartographia Winterthur', in 1906. The firm formally closed its doors in 1924, when it filed for bankruptcy and was acquired by Orell Füssli Publishing. Learn More...

Edward Stanford (May 27, 1827 - November 3, 1904) was one of the most prolific map publishing firms of the late 19th century. The company began as a partnership in 1848 between the 21 year old Edward Stanford and the established map dealer Trelawney Saunders. By 1853 the partnership had dissolved and Edward Stanford took full control of the business. A subsequent series of expansions and exciting new map issues finally led to the production of Stanford's masterwork, "Stanford's Library Map of London". This map is still available and remains somewhat accurate. At the time of publishing it was hailed by the Royal Geographical Society as "the most perfect map of London that has ever been issued". In 1882 Edward Stanford Sr. passed the firm on to his son, Edward Stanford Jr. who continued in his father's proud tradition. Today the Stanford firm still publishes maps and remains one of the most important and prolific cartographic publishers in the world. Learn More...