Atlas of the World's Commerce

This atlas, published in 1907, is one of the earliest (if not the earliest) comprehensive works summarising the state of the world's commerce (especially from the point of view of the British Empire) and presents testimony of the effort to document the vast commercial expansion occurring at the dawn of the 20th century, when global trade has reached it's new peak levels and new areas were explored and exploited. The atlas seeks to offer a comprehensive and graphic representation of the world's commercial landscape, addressing key elements such as the sources of essential commodities, international imports and exports, and the natural resources of various countries. Through numerous maps and diagrams, the atlas aims to make economic geography accessible and emphasize the global interdependence of nations in commerce.

The atlas stands as a significant attempt to fill a gap in commercial education, even as its author suggests that such an endeavor would ideally be taken up by international or governmental organizations. Until a more comprehensive and official resource is produced, this atlas remains a valuable tool for students and especially professionals seeking to understand the complexities of global commerce at the beginning of the 20th century.

The maps, while serving as the focal point of the atlas, are prefaced by an insightful introduction to economic geography, covering crucial topics such as production, transportation, climate, and economic development. Additionally, the atlas includes an extensive alphabetical list of nearly 2,000 commodities, each accompanied by concise explanations. The textual portion further offers a gazetteer of approximately 550-600 countries and ports (including small plans of some of the cities), highlighting the primary commodities sourced and traded in each region. Also featured is a detailed list of principal global travel routes, complete with distances and travel times (for instance, we can find out the route from Sydney to London took 48 days in 1907). A brief chronological history of commercial geography is also provided, giving the readers overview of the key events in the history of commercial development from the first voyages of Columbus in 1492 to the completion of the Trans-Siberian railway in 1905 century.

The map part of the atlas can be divided into following groups:

• general world maps about physical, political, cultural and economical aspects, transport and communication (30 pages)
• regional physical and economical maps (28 pages)
• thematic maps showing distribution of resources and products  (116 pages)

The thematic maps of the resources distribution present the most valuable information, which were put together for the first time in such extent in one comprehensive cartographical work. Each group of commodities, resources or products (eg. wheat, wine, spices, dairy products, wool & cotton, iron, coal, gold, precious stones, opium etc.) is presented on its own map showing its distribution, and are accompanied by statistical charts showing volumes of trade, import, export and consumption of countries involved.