Charte von Senegambien und Ober-Guinea nebst dem innern Nigritien

Title

Charte von Senegambien und Ober-Guinea nebst dem innern Nigritien

Description

Map depicts the entirety of West Africa, featuring both a title and a mileage scale. The inscription "Prag 1810" references this specific Bohemian edition of the map sheet. While the geography and the copperplate originated entirely from the Weimar workshop, this particular exemplar was printed and published in Prague.

c. 1810

Artist

Geographisches Institut Weimar (1804-1867)

The renowned cartographic publishing house Geographisches Institut Weimar was founded in 1804 by the famous publisher and entrepreneur Friedrich Justin Bertuch (evolving out of the Landes-Industrie-Comptoir). In the early 19th century, it developed into the leading center for highly precise, scientific atlases in Germany. Although the Geographical Institute was based in Weimar, licensed editions, partial print runs, or condensed school atlases for the Austrian-Bohemian market were printed in Prague or distributed through commission publishers located there.

Historical Description

Before the arrival of the Europeans, there were important empires in West Africa, such as Ghana, Mali and Songhai. Beginning in the 15th century, the British, Brandenburgers, Danes, French, Dutch, Portuguese and Swedes built forts and factories along the coast, primarily to handle the lucrative slave trade with North America. West Africa long had the reputation of being the "white man's grave." In the 18th century, 25% to 75% of newly arrived Europeans died within the first year of arrival from tropical diseases such as malaria, yellow fever, and sleeping sickness. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, colonial divisions were cemented. By 1900, West Africa included the extensive colonial territories of British, German, and French West Africa.A wave of independence occurred around 1960, during which numerous West African states became sovereign.The greater region covers much of the African continent, incorporating parts of the Sahara in the north and extending from the coastal regions of the Atlantic to the highlands of Adamaua and Mount Cameroon in the south. In general, West Africa includes the western part of the Greater Sahel and Sudan and the tropical rainforests of the Upper Guinea Threshold.