RGS-IBG archive

Augustus Petermann, 1848

The mid-1800s saw a devastating cholera outbreak sweep across Europe. The UK was struck early on, suffering more than 50,000 fatalities during the 1830s. This map depicts all of the UK districts where cholera was recorded during this initial surge, with shading indicating areas of highest mortality. There is also a secondary map for central London. As the bacterium moved through eastern and central Europe during the 1840s, mapmakers in London put their skills to good use. Among them was German cartographer Augustus Petermann, who published this map during a second UK outbreak in 1848.

Petermann went on to become well known as an Arctic cartographer. According to the Arctic Cultures Blog, his cholera maps, some of the first to be published under his name, allowed him to build up the cartographical techniques and geographical philosophy that would guide his later work. ‘For Petermann, statistical data stripped of their spatial dimension were little more than dead numbers,’ reads the blog. Petermann’s map clearly indicated that the disease hit densely populated areas hardest. He used wax crayon on stone to generate the shading – not yet a widespread technique in lithographical printing. This map helped health officials dealing with the second outbreak to gain a better understanding of the 1830s statistics. Petermann’s work predates that of the more famous Jon Snow, who, in 1854, used maps to draw a link between the disease and the unsanitary conditions and poor water supply of urban centres.