Australia antique map. Early Railways shown. Gaskell c1890.

by Gaskell, Charles A.

Antique Map of Australia, colour-printed circa 1890 for Gaskell's Atlas of the World.

Charles A. Gaskell arrived in Chicago in the early 1880s and established himself as an author, publisher and book distributor, and his maps are a good example of the maps made in America around that time. Gaskell based his maps on those of the more prominent map-maker, George Cram, so the maps have good accurate detail for the time of publication. Gaskell used cereography, or wax engraving and his maps are quite colourful, in a similar style to Cram’s – with extensive detail, including towns, roads, railroads, rivers, mountain ranges and a few other topographical details. Different pastel shades delineate the states as they existed at the time.The map extends to the very base of the page, and at the top, surrounding the coastline, the names again extend over the border lines. On the reverse is a map of the islands to the north of Australia, although the map on the reverse side is only half, as it was printed over two pages.

Page size is 285 x 370mm (11.25 x 14.5 inches). Size of printed map area is 280 x 335 (11 inches x 13.25 inches).