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C1890
Environs of Sydney / City of Sydney
Mapmaker:
Detailed c.19th colour printed map of Sydney presenting a dual view of the urban core and the wider metropolitan setting. The right panel details the City of Sydney with a dense street grid, named streets, public buildings, parks, and waterfront … Read Full Description
$A 325
S/N: RAAG-015-TP-NS–193339
(C026)
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Details
Full Title:
Environs of Sydney / City of Sydney
Date:
C1890
Mapmaker:
Condition:
In good condition, with centre fold as issued.
Technique:
Colour printed engraving.
Image Size:
320mm
x 234mm
Paper Size:
342mm
x 266mm
AUTHENTICITY
Genuine antique
dated:
1890
Description:
Detailed c.19th colour printed map of Sydney presenting a dual view of the urban core and the wider metropolitan setting.
The right panel details the City of Sydney with a dense street grid, named streets, public buildings, parks, and waterfront features around Sydney Cove and Darling Harbour. The left panel shows the Environs of Sydney, extending to Botany Bay, Port Hacking, and the Parramatta district, with roads, railways, rivers, and emerging suburbs.
Public reserves and parklands, including the Domain and Hyde Park, are tinted, while built-up areas and key structures are highlighted in contrasting colour. The map reflects Sydney’s expansion from its historic harbour nucleus into a connected suburban region, shaped by transport routes and coastal geography.
Such maps were produced for reference and educational use, combining practical topographical information with a clear visual summary of the city’s urban growth and regional context. They serve as informative records of Sydney’s late colonial urban form and infrastructure.
References:
Ferguson, J. A. Bibliography of Australia Volumes 1-8, Canberra 1976 : 6759.
Collections:
State Library New South Wales: 991020909049702626
National Library Australia: Bib ID: 794411
State Library Victoria: The royal atlas & gazetteer of Australasia
State Library Queensland: 99820404702061
State Library South Australia: 912.94 B287
John Bartholomew (1831 - 1893)
Bartholomew was a Scottish cartographer born in Edinburgh. His father, also John Bartholomew, started the cartographical firm in Edinburg. He was subsequently assistant to the German geographer August Petermann, until in 1856 when he took over his father's firm. Bartholomew built up a reputation unsurpassed in Great Britain for the production of the finest cartographical work. Bartholomew was an in-house cartographer for George Philip. He is best known for the development of colour contouring (or hypsometric tints), the system of representing altitudes on a graduated colour scale, with areas of high altitude in shades of brown and areas of low altitude in shades of green. He first showcased his colour contouring system at the Paris Exhibition of 1878; although it initially met with scepticism, it went on to become standard cartographical practice. Among his numerous publications, particularly worthy of note is the series of maps of Great Britain reduced from the Ordnance Survey to scales of ½ inch and ¾ inch to 1 mile, with relief shown by contour lines and hypsometric tints. The ½ inch series is among the finest of its kind ever produced. Upon his retirement in 1888, John Bartholomew was succeeded in the firm by his son John George, who extended the ½ inch series, and applied its principles to many other works. For the last six years of his life Bartholomew was living at 32 Royal Terrace in Edinburgh. Bartholomew died in London on 29 March 1893.[2] He is buried with his mother and father in Grange Cemetery in Edinburgh, in the northwest section. His wife Annie MCGregor (1836–1872), whom he greatly outlived, is also buried there.
