The Illustrirter Handatlas published by F. A. Brockhaus, Leipzig, in 1866 represents an innovative approach to cartography and geographical education in the 19th century in Germany. Combining colourful maps created under he supervision of Ehrenfried Leeder, with rich, detailed illustrations created by Heinrich Leutemann, it embodies the 19th-century ambition to unite knowledge with aesthetic appeal, making geography engaging and accessible to a broader audience.
Although the maps do not play a crucial role in this atlas, the preface highlights the attempt to present them in a unique way with a more lifelike, three-dimensional effect through perspective shading and selective lighting, diverging from the traditional flat, shadowless depictions of the terrain. The use of color to differentiate bodies of water and lowlands from areas with higher altitude stand out as one of the key features of the maps. The maps were initially printed using steel engravings and overprinted using lithographic plates to add color. Political boundaries were outlined in red by hand.
The illustrations surrounding each map are not merely decorative; they are an integral part of the atlas’s mission. These engravings vividly portray the people, architecture, flora, and fauna of each region, along with significant natural formations and cultural artifacts. Their inclusion transforms the atlas into a vivid tapestry of ethnographic and natural history, offering a “living image” of each area.
To aid comprehension, the atlas includes captions for its illustrations, including names of the plant and animal species depicted in them. From 1866, for those seeking deeper insights, explanatory text was made available in a separate volume for an additional cost. This option underscores the atlas’s dual role as both a scholarly work and a practical educational aid.
Although the concept of an atlas containing maps accompanied by illustrations was not entirely new, as we can name at least several works, namely the Illustrated Atlas of the Modern History of the World by Tallis or The Royal Illustrated Atlas Of Modern Geography With by Fullarton, this was probably the only large-scale atlas of this type published in Germany, which was otherwise publishing mostly cartography-oriented atlases (except for f.e. Schneiders Typen-Atlas which was however considerably smaller).
The Illustrirter Handatlas consists of 22 plates (2 world plates, 6 plates of continents and 14 plates of mostly European regions), each with roughly 9 to 12 illustrations.
Overall, the Illustrirter Handatlas is a unique testimony to the efforts of making geography a vivid and interconnected discipline. Its emphasis on aesthetic and scientific integration reflects the 19th-century spirit of expanding knowledge and bridging education with art.
The complete list of maps and illustrations:
Europeans; Asians; Africans; Americans; Australians; Animal and plant types: European, Asian, African, North and South American, Australian; Forest in the hot zone; Forest in the temperate zone; Desert; Volcano and mountain range.
Undersea landscape; Corals; Water hose; Stormy sea; Hollow sea; Sea animals; Whales; Swimming birds; Sea birds; Whaling; Herring fishing; Turtle fishing.
European peoples; Clawed animals; Alpine animals; Birds; Food plants; South European vegetation; Primeval forest in Lithuania; Coniferous forest; Longwood forest; Cathedral in Burgos; St. Mark's Church in Venice.
Asian peoples; Animal and plant groups (3 illustrations); Vegetation view; The Caucasus; The Sinai; The Chinese Maser; The Bohea Tea Hills in China; Chinese junks and buildings.
Inhabitants of India; Animal and plant groups (3 illustrations); Indian jungle; Landscape on Ceylon; The holy source of the Ganges; Himalayas; Animal life in the foothills.
Inhabitants of Africa; Animal and plant groups (3 illustrations); Timbuktu; Village in Sudan (2 illustrations); Slave caravan camped in the date forest; African jungle; Sphinx and pyramids.
Groups of natives (2 illustrations); Animal groups (3 illustrations); Vegetation on Tahiti; Vegetation on the Spruce Island; Grassland on the Murray in New Holland; Fortified village and the Egmontsberg in New Zealand; Dwelling on Nukahiva; Huts on the Stuart Islands.
Indians; Eskimos; Groups of animals and plants (4 illustrations); Natural picture from Central America; Characteristic landscape on the Red River; Humboldt glacier; Sugar cane harvest; Cotton crop; Church and dwelling in the Pueblo de Santo Domingo.
Hispanic-Americans; Botococci; Groups of animals and mushrooms (5 illustrations); The Condor; Character of the jungle; Bull catching; Hacienda in the Andes; The Chimborazo.
Arrieros; Groups of animals and plants; Bullfight; Sierra de Cintra; Serrania de Ronda; Galera in front of a venta in the Sierra Nevada; Gibraltar; Roman aqueduct in Segovia; Basin courtyard in the Alhambra in Granada.
Costumes from Morbihan and from the Macon area; Costumes in Alsace and the Vosges; Horses; The Menons in the Camargue; Wolves and boars in the Ardennes; Wine, oil, and fruit trees; Basalt cones in the Velay region; The Vosges; The chalk cliffs on the Norman coast; The lighthouse of Cordouan; Notre Dame in Paris.
English smuggler; Clan chief; Irishman; Horses; Cattle; Dogs; Birds; Lyn-Idwal in Wales; Bell Rock lighthouse near Liverpool; Slate quarries of Penrhyn in Wales; Coal mine near Newcastle; Fingal's Cave on Staffa; Chalk deposits in Dorsetshire; The Thames Tunnel.
Winter pleasures of the Dutch; Trekking barges; Cattle; Sheep; Dutch landscape; Rocky valley of the Maas; Port of Amsterdam; Street in Rotterdam; City hall in Brussels; Cathedral in Antwerp.
Rural costumes (2 illustrations); Fishing on the Faroe Islands; Beech forest on Zealand; Horses and sheep; Sea urchins; Birds; The Great Geysir on Iceland; Jutland farmhouse; Kronenburg Castle; Roskilde Cathedral.
Norwegian and Swedish costumes; Itinerant preachers in Swedish Lapland; Animal and plant groups (2 illustrations); Torghatten; Riukan-Foss; Göta Canal; Iron mines in Dannemora; Copper mines of Falun; Norwegian Church.
National costumes (3 illustrations); Cossacks; Wolves; The aurochs; Elk; Russian banner houses; Brown bear; Wild farmer's dwelling; Rutschberg; Bar-horses; Interior of a Russian cathedral; Vasili-Blaggenoi in Moscow.
Wallachians; Bulgarians; Wandering Greeks; Turkish dervishes; Turkish coffee house; The Atmeidau and the Achterhes plant group; Balkan Pass of Tirnowa; The Acropolis and the Temple of Olympian Zeus; Street in Constantinople; Corinth and Acrocorinth; Athens.
The Pope at the Palm Sunday procession; A Vetturino; Lazaroni's animal and plant groups (3 illustrations); Pass of Mont Cenis and Fort Lesseillon; Ischia with the Spomeo; Case of Tivoli; The Solfatare and Vesuvius; Leaning towers in Pisa; Pantheon in Rome; St. Peter's Church in Rome; Doge's Palace in Venice.
Bernese Alps; Mont Blanc; Monte Rosa; Jungfrau; Gross Glockner; Simplon road; Morané block; Alpine lake; Arctic ocean; Avalanche.
Alpine herdsmen's life; Wrestling festival; Log raftsman; Goatherd; Mountain climbing; Animal and plant groups (4 illustrations); Runs.
National costumes; Animal group; Plant group; Felkasee grotto in Worm; Primeval forest in Steler; Weckelsdorf rocks; Kecskeméter Puszta; Stamping mills from the gold mines of Vöröspatak; Salt mine in Wieliczka; Semmering railway.
Rural costumes (2 illustrations); Domestic animals; Game; Long-horned forest; German coniferous forest; Primeval forest in Prussian Lithuania; Schneekoppe; German Switzerland; Ortlesspitze; Arkona foothills; Cologne Cathedral.
Missing map #22 (Deutschland), otherwise complete and in very good condition with occasional light foxing throughout.
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