MARVELLOUS MAPS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CIX, Issue 13122, 9 May 1903, Page 8

MARVELLOUS MAPS.

A few weeks ago it was announced that yet another 1 addition had been made to tho number of jewelled maps in existence. This, the latest effort in extravagant cartography, was presented to Colonel Marchand, of Fashoda fame, by a number of his admirers, and comprised a map of Africa in blue enamel, with the two routes followed by the gallant traveller traced in brilliants, with an especially large diamond indicating the latitude and longitude of the town which brought fame to ‘the intrepid Frenchman, intrepid inasmuch as, he had the hardihood' to attempt to argue with Lord Kitchener. The map, which, bub for political reasons, would have been presented some little time ago, was probably suggested by the jewelled map of France that the Czar presented to the French nation in 1900, which after its exhibition at the Exposition of that year was added to the treasures of the Louvre. About one yard square in size, this record map took three years to make and cost, so it is said, £160,000. It is difficult to conceive of so large a sum being expended upon a single .map, but when it is pointed out that this work of art is A VERITABLE MOSAIC OF GEMS the problem presents no further mysteries. As a matter of fact, each department in the country was represented by a special stone, such as malachite, onyx, agate and jade, cut to exactly coincide with its configuration, while the rivers were marked in platinum and the sea in lapis lazuli; each of the large cities, to the number of 106, was, as in the case of Fashoda in the previous example pf jewelled cartography, represented by a" gem. Thus, a ruby occupied the site of Paris, an opal stood for Bordeaux, a turquoise for Lille, an emerald for Marseilles and a diamond for Lyons. That these gems are of considerable size and of the finest water can be gathered- from tho fact, that the stone representing the southern seaport has alone been valued at £IBOO. This map, it- should be mentioned, was, at the time of the Exhibition, mounted on marble embellished with ermine, and was surmounted by the Russian and French flags, which were to be replaced by a frame of solid silver. The jewelled map, by the way, is no twentieth-century idea, for long before the dawn of the present century the Shahs of Persia reckoned a jewelled map amongst their most valued possessions. The map in question, to bo perfectly accurate, is A GREAT GLOBE OF COLD, representing the world, and upon it the coloured effects of the familiar sphere of the schoolroom are obtained by studying tho area of each country with precious stones, Persia, for instance, being outlined and covered with diamonds, whilst rubies cover tho surface of the United Kingdom. A marvellous map, indeed, is that of England and Wales, made by a Wood Green gentleman four or five years ago; it was maJe by 2139 stamps, valued at 200 guineas, of which no two stamps are tho same. In this instance the contrast in colours of the. countries was obtained by covering the area of each of the most prominent with different coloured stamps. i ■

j Another map, or, rather plan, of note was , one of Moscow, exhibited a few years ago, f which, although the material •it was comj posed of was only Bristol Board, was valuL ed, probably on account of the six years’ work put into it, at £SOOO. The plan it should be mentioned, showed the town mo- ’ delled in relief, the hills, valleys, railway 3 lines, bridges, and public buildings, toge- ' ther with the. River Moskva, represented by a sky-blue line, all being indicated. A few months ago a French bride received from a geographically-inclined friend a ! silver sugar-bowl, having the contour of a ’ terrestrial globe. The bowl, whose cover ‘ was formed by the Northern Hemisphere, bore on its exterior 1 AN ACCURATELY ENGRAVED MAP OF THE WORLD, • and on this map the route that the newlymarried couple were about to take in the course of a very elaborate honeymoon tour was marked by a line of lapis lazuli, while 1 the names of the towns at which the happy couple would make a more or less prolonged "stay were lettered in enamel. This gift had, in its way, a distinct ; meaning; but, on tho other hand, it is difficult to understand why’ the friends of the Spanish Premier, Canovas, who was assas--1 sinated in 1897, should elect to send to his widow a beautiful aud elaborate map of the Philippine Islands. • I The map in question, which has been 1 valued at £6,000, was, however, a very ire- ' markable gift, as can be gathered from its • description, which records that it was in re- » lief and in solid gold, WITH EACH CITY MARKED BY A RUBY. The inscription' it bore,’ it should be further mentioned, .was outlined in sapphires, and • the dedication appeared in brilliants, while ! the frame of gold and precious stones was surmounted by a bust of Canovas in the : same precious metal. ’ This combined effort on the part of the ■ cartographer and the jeweller, which reads as though it dealt with the possession of some fabulously wealthy individual existing , only in the Arabian Nights’ Entertain- . merits, was, it is recorded, enclosed in a , case of the finest wood, which in itself was ' a work of art. Some people borrow trouble for the pur- ■ pose of giving it to others.