{"product_id":"old-map-of-west-africa-by-stanford-1904-british-possessions-relief-hachures-railways-submarine-cables","title":"Old Map of West Africa by Stanford, 1904: British possessions; relief hachures; railways \u0026 submarine cables","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe original title, West Africa, announces Edward Stanford’s authoritative survey of the region at the turn of the twentieth century. Issued in 1904, this consummate plate unites political and physical cartography in vivid full-color lithography, guiding the eye from the Atlantic littoral and Gulf of Guinea deep into the Sahel and the southern fringes of the Sahara. Relief is modelled with refined hachures and punctuated by spot heights, so that river basins, escarpments, and undulating plateaux appear almost tactile. A clear legend distinguishes British possessions from neighboring spheres, while carefully drawn coastlines, rivers, and boundaries give immediate legibility to a landscape undergoing rapid historical change.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eStanford’s map stands in the great London tradition he helped define, a direct descendant of John Arrowsmith’s celebrated London Atlas of 1858. First issued in 1887 and successively revised in 1893, 1896, 1898, and 1901, the work culminated in this considered third edition of 1904, each state responding to shifting frontiers and new geographic intelligence. The result is an atlas plate that registers the diplomatic tempo of the era—boundary commissions, protectorates declared, spheres of influence negotiated—without sacrificing geographic clarity. Stanford’s editorial discipline ensured that fresh railheads, administrative districts, and river courses entered the record with precision, preserving an exacting continuity of quality across decades of imperial reconfiguration.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe sheet’s visual language is as elegant as it is informative. Full color is deployed with restraint to differentiate territories and physiographic zones, while delicate hachures articulate the transitions from coastal plains to interior highlands and the sandy undulations edging the desert. Major waterways—the Niger and its great bend, the Senegal, the Gambia, the Volta—thread the composition in confident strokes, their tributaries feeding marshes and deltas crisply engraved. Spot heights add quantitative nuance to the mountainous interiors and upland plateaux, enriching the reader’s sense of relief. The overall layout is methodical and lucid, allowing the eye to parse complex boundaries and topography without ever losing the sweep of the region.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEqually compelling is the human geography Stanford arrays across the surface. Towns and cities are meticulously located to reveal settlement patterns along coasts, rivers, and interior routes, with roads and newly driven railways tracing the commercial corridors of the age. Lines of submarine cable, so emblematic of fin-de-siècle connectivity, leap from port to port, linking West African harbors to the wider Atlantic network. From administrative centers on the Gulf of Guinea to inland river ports, the map records the infrastructure by which commodities, people, and ideas moved—evidence of the economic transformations that defined the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and the emergence of an integrated regional system.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor scholars and connoisseurs alike, this 1904 state is a time capsule of West Africa in flux, its political entities foreshadowing the boundaries of Sierra Leone, Liberia, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, and Niger, and its northern margins brushing the Sahara. It became a standard reference, with later editions continuing through 1931—correcting the oft-repeated but erroneous terminal date of 1928—so the plate also speaks to the longevity of Stanford’s enterprise. As an object of study and of beauty, it distills a period when maps informed policy and imagination in equal measure, offering a rigorous, elegantly rendered frame through which to read a continent’s western rim.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCountries and regions on this map\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCountries\/Regions Shown: The boundaries of present-day West African countries are delineated.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWest African Countries: Sierra Leone, Liberia, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Burkina Faso, and Niger.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eRegions: Northern parts intersecting with the Sahara, Gulf of Guinea to the south.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eContinents: Africa (Regionally focused on West Africa).\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBodies of Water: Atlantic Ocean to the west.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMountain ranges: General topography indicated, but detailed ranges may not be explicitly named.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eInfrastructure: Roads, railroads, and potential annotations about historical significance or colonial interests.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNotable Features \u0026amp; Landmarks\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCountries and Territories Labeled: Various political entities and their boundaries.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eTopography: Features hachures indicating elevation changes and major landforms.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eTransportation Routes: Roads and rail lines are depicted, indicating the infrastructure of the region.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eStrategic Locations: Towns and cities marked for reference, showing human settlement patterns.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBodies of Water: Major rivers and coastal outlines.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eLegend: Includes a legend explaining color coding for British possessions and other territories.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHistorical and design context\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCreated by Edward Stanford in 1904.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDetailed political and physical representation of West Africa at the turn of the 20th century.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSuccessor to John Arrowsmith's London Atlas of 1858, showcasing continuity in quality.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFirst issued in 1887, with updates in 1893, 1896, 1898, and 1901, culminating in a third edition in 1904.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eLast edition published in 1931; incorrect attribution to 1928 corrected.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eRelief shown using hachures and spot heights for vivid terrain representation.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHighlights settlement patterns, including towns, roads, railroads, and submarine cables.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFull-color lithography, intricate detail, hachured techniques for depicting elevation.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe overall layout is methodical, allowing easy navigation of geographic features and political boundaries.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eServes as an important reference for historians and geographers, capturing the dynamic changes in West Africa's landscape and political situation during a time of colonial expansion.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMapmaker: Edward Stanford, a significant figure in cartography known for quality maps and atlases.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThemes and Topics: Geography of West Africa; Economic and infrastructural developments during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003ePlease double check the images to make sure that a specific town or place is shown on this map. You can also get in touch and ask us to check the map for you.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis map looks great at every size, but I always recommend going for a larger size if you have space. That way you can easily make out all of the details. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis map looks amazing at sizes all the way up to 70in (180cm). If you are looking for a larger map, please \u003ca href=\"\/de\/pages\/contact-us\"\u003eget in touch\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e  \u003cp\u003eThe model in the listing images is holding the 18x24in (45x60cm) version of this map.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe fifth listing image shows an example of my map personalisation service.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIf you’re looking for something slightly different, check out my collection of the \u003ca href=\"\/de\/collections\/all-old-vintage-antique-maps\"\u003ebest old maps\u003c\/a\u003e to see if something else catches your eye.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePlease \u003ca href=\"\/de\/pages\/contact-us\"\u003econtact me\u003c\/a\u003e to check if a certain location, landmark or feature is shown on this map.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis would make a wonderful birthday, Christmas, Father's Day, work leaving, anniversary or housewarming gift for someone from the areas covered by this map.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis map is available as a giclée print on acid free archival matte paper, or you can buy it framed. The frame is a nice, simple black frame that suits most aesthetics. Please get in touch if you'd like a different frame colour or material. My frames are glazed with super-clear museum-grade acrylic (perspex\/acrylite), which is significantly less reflective than glass, safer, and will always arrive in perfect condition.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Unique Maps Co.","offers":[{"title":"12x16in (30x40cm) \/ Map","offer_id":57969123164544,"sku":"UM00275164A","price":41.95,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true},{"title":"12x16in (30x40cm) \/ Framed map","offer_id":57969123197312,"sku":"UM00275165A","price":111.95,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true},{"title":"12x16in (30x40cm) \/ Framed canvas map","offer_id":57969123230080,"sku":"UM00275166A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true},{"title":"A3 (297x420mm) \/ Map","offer_id":57969123262848,"sku":"UM00275167A","price":41.95,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true},{"title":"A3 (297x420mm) \/ Framed map","offer_id":57969123295616,"sku":"UM00275168A","price":111.95,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true},{"title":"A3 (297x420mm) \/ Framed canvas 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