Maps and Mapping of Norway, 1602-1855
Updates, by entry
[Most recent update: Jan. 14, 2011]
| 14 | This map, Regni Norvegiæ Nova et Accurata descriptio, was included in the Fall, 1716, issue of Relationis Historicæ Semestralis Autumnalis Continuatio. These booklets, published in conjunction with the spring and fall Frankfurt book fairs (Messen), are also referred to as the Messrelationen. Each issue’s roughly 100+ pages summarized the major historical, political, and military news since the prior fair; they are regarded as forerunners of modern day news magazines. The two lines at the bottom of the title page name the publisher in addition to the place and date: Franckfurt am Mäyn/|Bey den Engelhardischen Erben/und Joh. Balthasar Graupitzen/Not. Cæs. Publ. zu finden/1716. The first page of text contains a summary explanation of the volume’s contents: Das ist:|Beschreibung der denckwürdigsten Geschichten/so von|jüngst = verwichener Franckfurter Oster • biss an die|Herbst=Mess dieses lauffenden 1716. Jahrs sich hin und wie=|der in der Welt zugetragen. (This is: Description of the most memorable histories that occurred in the world during this current year 1716 from the recently elapsed Frankfurt Easter-fair to the autumn-fair.) Regni Norvegiæ Nova et Accurata descriptio is placed within the four-page section devoted to Sweden-Denmark-Holstein. The text covers the Norwegian Campaign of 1716, which was part of the Great Northern War, from around January to mid-July of that year. (The title page of the fall 1716 Relationis indicates that the issue covers the period before and between the Easter and autumn fairs. Though worded slightly differently from that translated above, the more accurate title page language reflects the delay in obtaining news and the time necessary to prepare the publication.) In the spring of 1716, Swedish troops under the command of King Karl (Charles) XII crossed into Norway and surprised the garrison at the Basmo Fortress with an unexpected night attack. (The fortress lies on an isolated mountain outcropping to the northeast of Fridrichshall. Karl XII was killed during the siege of Fridrichshall in 1718; see Entry 12, pp. 83-6 and fig. HOM 1.) According to the text, when Danish Brigadier Kruse got this news the following morning, he attacked the much larger Swedish forces. Although the attack threw the Swedes into initial confusion, a counterattack led by Karl XII himself captured Kruse, with heavy casualties on both sides. The text relates the following historical anecdote:
The vignette on the map is most likely intended to depict—or at least to suggest—this harsh battle. The other major element of the map that differs from the Janssonius original, the addition of the numerous ships, probably alludes to a later phase of the Norwegian Campaign also reported in the text. In April, Danish Vice-Admiral Christian Carl Gabel set sail "with a favorable wind" to bring reinforcements. More importantly, in July, Peder Jansen Wessel (ennobled "Tordenskjold" by Frederick IV at the beginning of 1716) trapped and destroyed Karl XII’s supply fleet in the Dynekilen fjord north of Strömstad. - - - - - I appreciate the help of several people who assisted me on the journey of discovery to the elusive source of Regni Norvegiæ Nova et Accurata descriptio. Several years ago, Nils Germundson suggested that this map might come from an issue of the Messrelationen, but I was not able to confirm this. Recently, James Roy provided circumstantial evidence strongly corroborating this hypothesis, which persuaded me to renew my research in this direction. Bernhard Wirth of the Universitätsbibliothek Frankfurt am Main, whose help I gratefully acknowledge, has now verified this source. Mr. Wirth informed me (personal communication, November 19, 2010) that in the fall 1716 issue of Relationis Historicæ Semestralis, the eighth major section, titled "Von Schwedisch=Dänisch=und Hollsteinischen Geschichten," runs from the bottom of page 93 through page 97, with the map bound in between pages 96 and 97. In his opinion, there was usually just one plate added to issues in the 18th century, and that these were issued loose. The owner/purchaser could keep it separate, or bind or lay it in the volume. (I also wish to thank Dr. Wolfgang Cilleßen, Deputy Director of the Historisches Museum Frankfurt, for referring me to Mr. Wirth.) My thanks to Paul Garver for applying his remarkable translating skills to the relevant text and then providing historical background for the events described. |
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| 42+ | New Entry Fig. 42+.
Thomas Dix London, 1809 Norway. Above map at upper right: 16 Below bottom map border: Drawn by Tho.s Dix, for the Use of Schools. At bottom center of sheet: London, Published as the Act directs by W. & T. Darton, Dec.r 10th.1809. This small unadorned map of Norway comes from an English school atlas whose title page reads: DIX's|Juvenile Atlas,|CONTAINING|Forty Four|Maps|with plain directions for copying them,|DESIGNED FOR|Junior Classes.|LONDON|Published Jan,y 1st, 1811, by William Darton Jun.r 58 Holborn Hill. It is a reminder that there are likely to be analogous maps of Norway in at least some of the school atlases that proliferated in Europe and America during the 19th century. Norway is another example of a map present in this cartobibliography primarily due to its title (see especially Entries 8/9 and 10). The sheet includes Sweden and most of Finland, with virtually no geographical information about them. Not much more is shown in Norway, with only Christiania and the Lofoden (sic) Isles indicated. |
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| 77 | The first name of the cartographer is misspelled. It should read "Balthazar," as in the heading for Entry 69 printed above it. |
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| 78+ | New entry Fig. 78+.
G. C. C. W. Prahl Bergen, c. 1850 Det sydlige|Norge.|Forlag og Lith: ved Prahl i Bergen Lithograph, 24.7 x 18.6 cm From Prahl's Nyeste Norske Skole Atlas |
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| 78++ | New Entry Fig. 78++.
G. C. C. W. Prahl Bergen, c. 1850 Det nordlige|Norge.|Forlag og Lith: ved Prahl i Bergen Inset map at lower right: Christiania=Fjord med Omgivelser. (19.3 x 11.5) Lithograph, 18.4 x 24.6 cm From Prahl's Nyeste Norske Skole Atlas At the top of page 199, I wrote that I had seen title references to at least three Prahl atlases that I had not been able to locate. In April 2010, I obtained a copy of the second edition of Prahl's Nyeste Norske Skole Atlas. The continuation of the title refers explicitly to the Geographies of Geelmuyden, Platou, Daa, and Knutzen. There is no date on the volume or printed on any of the maps. The words "Andet Oplag" (second edition) are printed on the title page and on most of the maps, and Prahls Mindre Skole-Atlas is printed above the border on almost half of the maps. In this work, there are maps of southern and northern Norway (Fig. 78+/78++) that are analogous to Entries 61 and 63, but only approximately one-quarter the size; namely, 24.7 x 18.6 cm. (vs. 50.0 x 34.0) and 18.4 x 24.6 cm. (vs. 34.0 x 50.0), respectively. Det sydlige Norge, the map of southern Norway, has "Andet Oplag" printed within the map border at the upper center, but these words do not appear on the map of northern Norway, Det nordlige Norge. (My hypothesis is that the pair was regarded as a single entity-in fact, they are noted as "5 og 6. Norge" in the contents printed on the title page-so that "Andet Oplag" effectively applied to the map of Norway that happened to have been printed in two parts on facing pages.) Neither map carries any reference to Prahl's Mindre Skole-Atlas. Although I have dated both maps c. 1850, this is an estimate based on the following considerations. To begin, the reference on the atlas title page to the Geographies of Geelmuyden, Platou, Daa, and Knutzen is, unfortunately, not determinative because various books by these authors with geography in the title were issued from 1840 into the 1900s. For example, Platou's Lærebog i Geographien came out in 1840, though it had been published as a set of pamphlets already in 1835; first editions of Geelmuyden's Geografi for Begyndere and Lærebog i Geografien til Skolebrug are both dated 1851 (with the tenth edition of the latter appearing in 1900); and although Daa's Lærebog i Geografien is dated 1859, his Udtog af Geografien was published in 1841. My choice of date rests primarily on the presumed chronological ordering of Prahl's publications in J. B. Halvorsen and Halvdan Koht, Norsk forfatter-lexikon, 1814-1880; Paa grundlag af J.E. Krafts og Chr. Langes "Norsk forfatter-lexikon 1814-1856," Kristiania: Den Norske forlagsforening, 1885 (page 481), in which the Mindre Skoleatlas is ascribed a date of "184*", followed by Prahls nyeste norske Skole-Atlas, then Kart over den sydlige Deel af Kongeriget Norge, udarbeidet til Brug for Skoler og privat Undervisning (Entry 86, which I assigned a date of c. 1855 while noting that it "could be off by ten or more years"), after which comes Prahls Godtkjøbs-Atlas with a date of [1858]. Secondarily, from the absence of a reference to the Mindre Skoleatlas on the two sheets of the Norway map, I infer that they were not included in that book but were introduced later in Prahls nyeste norske Skole-Atlas. |
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| 85 | There is a 6th edition dated 1873 ("6de Oplag 1873" in the title) of P. A. Munch's Kart over Kongeriget Norge. |
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| Essay | Route Maps
In Table 1 on page 247, there should be an additional line for the year "1898" with the number "4" in the last column indicating the fourth edition of Cammermeyers Reisekart over northern Norway. The following text should be added to the end of the first column on page 256: 4TH EDITION, KRISTIANIA 1898 Cammermeyers Reisekart|over|Det nordlige Norge.|I 4 Blade.|Udarbeidet af Per Nissen.|4de rettede Oplag.|Kristiania 1898.|Alb. Cammermeyers Forlag. In both this and the prior third edition, the date is given under the title, which is printed on the northwest (upper left) sheet. In the southwest sheet, there are features shown in Sweden, to the east of the Norwegian border; and the first column of the list in Table B at the lower right ends with "Grøto" (the last word in the 1893 edition is "Tranø"). The northeast sheet has an area labeled "FINLAND RUSLAND" with corresponding features and details. The data in the tables comprising the southeast sheet refer to different years: e.g., third table along left hand side, 1896 (1891 in 3rd edition); fourth table, 1891-1895 (1886-1890 in 3rd edition); under the center table at the bottom, 1891-1895 (1881-1890 in 3rd edition). |
