The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-09-02
FACTS ABOUT MAPS.
Germany the Great source Of Them
-Methods OF Manufacture.

germany d Great Source OF Them
Methods Of Manufacture.
Germany has tho largest and most
famous map making establishment in the
world. IL was founded by q poor map
maker named Psrthes In the little town
Of Gotha moro than 40 years ago.
The equipment Of the establishment now
10 surprising. The geographical library Of
this houss contains over $1,000 volumes.
10 In about twice a. large as any similar
library In America, and every book 10 60
fully tndsxed by tbs card system that all
the best Information about every noun
tain, river, capc or other geographical
feature that has been described may b
obtained 10 Q few minutes.
Thu establishment has also q collection
Of . 1s0, 900 maps. IL q all the route
surveys Of explorers and all the sheets
Of Topographic and other surveys which
The nations ave produced.
This 0otha house il mentioned here
merely because 1t heads tho list of the
great map houses. There are q number
Of othsrs, especially in Germany. France,
Scotland, Austria and Holland, which
approximate, II they have not entirely
attained, tho high standard Of the Gotha
house.
II We should inspect any OF theee map
plants and see the corps Of ~geographers
compiling data for now maps and the
busy rooms where tho steel and copper
.engrAvcrs, the photographers, the lith-
ographsrs, tho hand colorists, the book
binders and others perform their daily
tasks We should be impressed with the
fact that tho production Of first class maps
ranAxinNa n Iar1A warkakv ~ anianffAa kalanf
and highly trained technical sdll.
The wax process Of map production used
In nearly all American map houses IL not
employed In any Of the leading European
establishments. They do not regard It as
. medium through which they oan attain the
best results.
We need not infer that these map makers
ever produce an absolutely perfect map.
A photographic product without a blemish
was never made. The reason il that a
single misspclling or the slight instruction
Of q linz h q bluDder. Ono sheet may
contain the essence Of many books and
many maps; and the best that human nature
can do Ii to take every possible p~recaution,
within the limits Of its frailty, 70 tell the
truth.
Thsre are famous g~eograpbers who study
maps more than they do books. DIR. Wag-
ner, the professor Of geography in the Uni
versity Of Gottingen, has never been a great
traveller but he is celebrated for his know
ledge Of regional geography.
A while ago be wrote a very large book
on the geography Of the earth, in which
b said that be had derived the greater
part Of the material for the book from his
study Of maps. He was able to do this
because In tho past half century cartog-
raphers a developed TO q high degree
Of perfection the art Of presenting q clear
and vivid picture Of all the geographical
conditions Of the regions concerned.
A first rate map Ia q short road to o
graphical knowledge. Suppose we wish
70 learn something Of the history OF the
exploration OF Africa which hundreds OF
explorers have gridironed with their routes.
How many SCORES OF volumes we should
have to examine il We were to seek this
information in booksl
But there II a map OF Africa In eight
large sheets which gives the route Of all the
explorers who had contributed to our
OF Africa up to the time the
map was prepared. We zee all the dis
c~overios they made, and the colors show
the nature Of tho various regions through
which they passed. This map gives q
bird's-eye view Of the whole great subject
u African exploration.
Bot many maps are very poor. and The
public would not buy them II they knew
how inaccurate and misleading they are.
They are usually the output Of crafts
men who work without geographical
supervision. There will be less demand
for such misinforming products when more
school children are taught to distinguish
between a good and a poor map.