| Referencia: | 10829 |
| Editorial: | James Wyld... Publisher: London, 11 & 12 Charing Cross |
| Año: | 1884 |
| Lugar de edición: | London |
The Nile, Egypt and The Soudan, by James Wyld
This rare map is undated but was announced in an issue of The Economist in October 1884: “This map, which it is stated has been compiled from many original sources, is printed on a large scale so as to facilitate reference to the movements of our troops and is exceedingly well adapted for the purpose.”
The magazine refers here to the Mahdist War (ath-Thawra al-Mahdiyya), 1881–1899, which was fought between Sudan and the Khedivate of Egypt. In 1884, Charles Gordon, the Governor of Sudan, judged that the Anglo-Egyptian presence in Sudan was too costly. He decided to evacuate all the troops from the region but became locked in Khartoum by the army of the Mahdi before he could do so. After a siege of 131 days, the city fell in January 1885, leading to the massacre of Gordon and the garrison.
As explained by The Economist, the large-scale format of the map allowed the British elite to follow military events in the region, such as the so-called “Gordon Relief Expedition,” led by General Wolseley, who reached Khartoum just two days after the city had fallen.
This map is a remarkable example of the cartographic precision of its time. The detailed depiction of the Nile River is particularly noteworthy, as the Nile was a critical lifeline and strategic asset in the region. The accuracy of the Nile's mapping would have been essential for military planning and logistics, providing crucial information for navigation and troop movements.
From the second half of the 18th century, new publishing techniques lowered the cost of printing, and the European market saw an increasing number of maps and plans published for specific political or military events, such as this map. Unlike those included in atlases, they are usually rare, as interest in them quickly declined when the conflict or event they were linked to faded from public interest. Wyld’s map of Egypt and Sudan is no exception. We have found only one copy offered for sale in the last 60 years, and just four copies are listed in WorldCat/OCLC.
