Abstract
Under the instruction of Franz Xaver von Zach (1754–1832) and Friedrich Justin Bertuch (1747–1822), Christian Gottlieb Reichard (1758–1837) designed an “Atlas des ganzen Erdkreises,” which was first published by the “Landes-Industrie-Comptoir” at Weimar, Germany in 1803. Moreover, we find in a sales catalogue that it was possible to acquire the “Atlas” shaped on a cubical rack. My question is: Was the “Erdkubus” ever implemented? What was the full story behind this advertisement?
The aim of my paper is to analyze an unknown product of the cartographer Reichard. Looking at the correspondence between Reichard, the publisher Bertuch and the astronomer Zach should give us the opportunity to understand a special form of ‘Cartography in the making’. Indeed, circa 1800 a synergetic cube-concept – applying the appeal of maps in combination with the representation-form of a globe – was mentioned for the first time by Bertuch and his staff. Reconstructing the development of the “Erdkubus” also offers miscellanea of travel literature and mapping culture in Germany in the early nineteenth century.
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Notes
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Streit, 1837.
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The tendency to turn the holistic approach towards empirical studies with commentary on images of nature can be mentioned in the periodicals “Allgemeine Literatur-Zeitung,” “London and Paris,” the “Journal des Luxus und der Moden,” and especially in the “Bilderbuch für Kinder.” For more details on the publications of Bertuch’s firms, see Kaiser and Seifert 2000.
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Because of varying editors, the magazine’s name changes three times. The last “Ephemeride” was issued in 1831, after a successful run of 30 years.
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AGE 2(1798), “Etwas zur Empfehlung der Central-Projection,” p. 401–411. Here he stated: “Indessen, da man die Erdfläche auf so mancherley Arten vorgestellt hat, so könnte wol eine Darstellung der ganzen Erdfläche auf sechs Tafeln, der Sonderbarkeit wegen, Liebhaber finden.”
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Selection of maps showing Europe used by Christian Gottlieb Reichard: Götze, J. A. F. 1800. Charte des Schwarzen Meeres. Weimar: Verlag des Industrie-Comptoirs; Güssefeld, F. L. 1785. Charte von der Moldau und Walachey. Nürnberg: Homaennische Erben; Güssefeld, F. L. 1799. Charte des Mittelländischen Meeres. Weimar: Verlag des Industrie-Comptoirs; Kitchin, T. 1803. Charte von England und Wallis. Augsburg: Johannes Walch; Mannert, C. 1800. Charte von Frankreich. Nürnberg: Adam Gottlieb Schneider und Weigel; Reinecke, J. C. M. 1800. Charte des ganzen russischen Reichs in Europa und Asien. Weimar: Verlag des Industrie-Comptoirs; Reinecke, J. C. M. 1800. Charte des ganzen russischen Reichs in Europa und Asien. Weimar: Verlag des Industrie-Comptoirs; Reinecke, J. C. M. 1800. Charte von Island. Weimar: Verlag des Industrie-Comptoirs; Reinecke, J. C. M. 1800. Charte von Schweden und Norwegen. Weimar: Verlag des Industrie-Comptoirs; Sotzmann, D. F. 1797. Generalcharte von Ost-, West-, Süd- und Neu-Ost-Preussen nach dem Gränztractate von 1797. Berlin: Simon Schropp et Comp.; Stieler, A. 1798. Charte von Irland. Weimar: Verlag des Industrie-Comptoirs; Stieler, A. 1800. Charte von Spanien und Portugal. Weimar: Verlag des Industrie-Comptoirs.
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“Von Grad zu Grad rechne ich, und es soll das Netz so scharf, als es nur möglich ist, werden […].” Letter from Reichard addressed to Bertuch, 8 August 1799, GSA 06/1471.
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“[…] wegen des gänzlichen Mangels an solchen kleinen obwohl absolut nöthigen Hülfsmitteln in hiesiger Gegend […]”. Letter from Reichard addressed to Bertuch, 14 July 1799, GSA 06/1471.
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Letter from Reichard addressed to Bertuch, 8 August 1799, GSA 06/1471.
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“Da wird nun freilich manches willkürlich […].” Letter from Reichard addressed to Bertuch, 10 February 1800, GSA 06/1471.
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Different quality of drawing paper restricted corrections. In addition to the original drafts, map add-ons had to be handled by Reichard and Bertuchs staff.
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“[…] was mir bey unsrer schwindenden durch Mark und Bein dringenden Luft schon einige mal passirt ist.” Letter from Reichard addressed to Bertuch, 8 December 1800, GSA 06/1471.
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Letter from Reichard addressed to Bertuch, 8 August 1799, GSA 06/1471.
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Letter from Reichard addressed to Bertuch, 8 March 1801, GSA 06/1471.
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“Bei der Reichspost muß es etwas confus hergehen.” Letter from Reichard addressed to Bertuch, 13 January 1800, GSA 06/1471. Carriage maps were rolled on wooden rolls. See the “Post-Bericht” in GSA 06/1471.
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Letter from Reichard addressed to Bertuch, 1 January 1801, GSA 06/1471.
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Bertuch could use his correspondence network for the critical review of stages of “Erdatlas” progress. Theophil Friedrich Ehrmann (1762–1811), who worked for Bertuch on the “Bibliothek der neuesten und wichtigsten Reisebeschreibungen,” corrected the mapping of Africa. See the letter from Reichard addressed to Bertuch, 10 November 1803, GSA 06/1471.
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As an established procedure, the map was sectioned into quadrants. Beginning in the upper left corner, the correct words were crossed out, and the words to correct were underlined. If it was necessary, they were also numbered. Every quadrant was handled in this way.
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Letter from Reichard addressed to Bertuch, 8 March 1801, GSA 06/1471.
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Letter from Reichard addressed to Bertuch, 23 January 1800, GSA 06/1471.
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Letter from Reichard addressed to Bertuch, 11 August 1800, GSA 06/1471.
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Letter from Reichard addressed to Bertuch, 1 January 1801, GSA 06/1471.
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“Und wahrhaftig, nichts als die Flüsse machen den Lärm, die wird doch nicht besser haben können, es müsste denn H[err] v[on] Humboldt etwas schicken.” Letter from Reichard addressed to Bertuch, 25 December 1800, GSA 06/1471.
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Letter from Reichard addressed to Bertuch, 25 November 1802, GSA 06/1471.
Abbreviations
- AGE:
-
Allgemeine Geographische Ephemeriden (1798–1815)
- GSA:
-
Goethe and Schiller Archives in Weimar
References
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Middell K (2002) “Die Bertuchs müssen doch in dieser Welt überall Glück haben” Der Verleger Friedrich Justin Bertuch und sein Landes-Industrie-Comptoir um 1800. Universitätsverlag, Leipzig
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Christoph, A. (2012). Earthcube: Christian Gottlieb Reichard’s Point of View on the Earth. In: Liebenberg, E., Demhardt, I. (eds) History of Cartography. Lecture Notes in Geoinformation and Cartography(). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-19088-9_17
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