The maps from The Illustrated Atlas were first published in serial form to a target audience that led insular lives due to the expense and hardship of travel. All that changed as the progress of the nineteenth century brought swift and dramatic changes in public awareness of far away places. Tallis' maps no doubt played an important role in this dramatic awakening. These maps not only provided up-to-date geographical knowledge, but also used vignette views within the map's design to show the native people and their occupations, cities and points of interest. The maps hark back to a cartographic tradition from the Dutch mapmakers of the seventeenth century with finely engraved decorative borders. The maps were drawn and engraved by John Rapkin with views drawn and engraved by a number of prominent artists. The maps were issued as a complete volume from 1851 until about 1865. Some of the maps were also published in other history books published by Tallis including British Colonies and, without the vignettes, in geographical dictionaries and encyclopedias until about 1880.

This lot of steel engraved maps is focused on southern Asia. Each of the maps is surrounded by a decorative border and embellished by a series of vignettes.

A. Cabool, the Punjab and Beloochistan (10.5 x 13.5"). Beautifully rendered map centered on Afghanistan and Pakistan, with parts of Iran. Vignettes include "Boats on the Indus," "Sultan Mahmoud's Minars and Fortress, Ghuznee," and a large view of "Lahore" with many warriors and camels in the foreground.

B. Northern India (12.5 x 9.7"). This map includes Nepal, Sikhim and Bhutan with vignettes surrounding the map including: Tiger Hunt; Ruins, Old Delhi; Car of Juggernaut, The British Residency, Hyderabad, and Seal of the Indian Company.

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Condition: A

Original outline color with later color in the vignettes on the map of Cabool. The map of Cabool was trimmed by the bookbinder with minor loss of the decorative border at top and bottom.