A closer look at the second map referenced in the previous post (here) has led me to revise my view of when it was originally published. I invite you to follow along as I note the evidence that caught my eye and prompted my change of mind.
To recap, the previous post noted (1) that the reference to 1836 on the map related only to the date of the statistics that the map summarizes for the colonies shown and (2) that the map includes a number of villages established well after 1836, such as Hierschau (1848) and Alexanderkrone (1857). This implied rather strongly that the map was published after the founding of the latest village shown. This perfectly logical deduction was undermined, however, by a too-hasty look at the visual evidence.
The first clue came to light through a more closer examination of the Kleefeld part of the map. See if you can spot the problem in the extract below.
The outline of the village covers part of the name Juschanlee Fluss (Iushanle River). No respectable mapmaker would have done this by design. Rather, one imagines that the mapmaker would have first drawn in all the physical landmarks, including villages, then added the labels as a final step. The fact that Kleefeld covers the river name implies that it was added later.
Once one begins to look more closely, several other inconsistencies come to light. First, the script in which Kleefeld and Alexanderkrone are written is different from that used for Lichtfeld. Second, Lichtfeld is assigned a number (30), but Kleefeld and Alexanderkrone are not. Third, the quality and style of the village outlines is noticeably different: Lichtfeld looks finished and professional; Kleefeld and Alexanderkrone suffer by comparison.
These differences are not restricted to these three villages; they can be seen in others as well.
The villages on the north side of the river are all original to the map; those on the south side appear to be later additions, as indicated by the different script for the village name, the lack of a number, and the more amateurish appearance of the village outline.
In light of this evidence, we should revise the earlier hypothesis that the map was published after the founding of the last village shown. In fact, the map was published after the establishment of the last village shown on the original map but before the founding of the first village added by hand to the original map.
The first step in this revision is an obvious one: to list all the villages obviously added by hand to the map.
- Hierschau: 1848
- Nikolaidorf: 1851
- Paulsheim: 1852
- Kleefeld: 1854
- Alexanderkrone: 1857
- Mariawohl: 1857
- Friedensruh: 1857
- Steinfeld: 1857
- Gnadental: 1862
- Hamberg: 1863
- Klippenfeld: 1863
- Fabrikerwiese: 1863
The last village founded prior to Hierschau was Landskrone, in 1839; the village before Landskrone was Waldheim, in 1836. The extract below shows all three villages together.
Waldheim on the right and Landskrone in the center are both numbered and appear to use the same script for the village name; Hierschau, lying between them, is clearly a later addition. It is possible that the outline of Landskrone is also an addition, since it differs significantly from the style of all the other village outlines on the original map. One might suggest that the general location of Landskrone had been decided when the map was made but that the details of its layout could not be added until later.
In the end, although we cannot state precisely when the map was first created, we know that it was certainly after 1836 and before 1848, probably around 1839, when Landskrone was planned but not yet fully established. When and how often the map was updated by hand after that remains a mystery.
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