Spain & Portugal Map 1897 Large-Format Atlas Print - Madrid, Lisbon, Barcelona, Seville, Valencia

Rand McNally and Company of Chicago published this Spain, Portugal in its Indexed Atlas of the World in 1897, in the foreign countries volume of a two-volume set. The sheet is a double-page map measuring 66 by 50 centimeters at a scale of 1:1,930,000, printed in full color with relief shown by hachures and spot heights, and its margin carries the title Rand, McNally and Company's indexed atlas of the world. The catalog calls the atlas Rand McNally's highwater mark for its nineteenth-century atlases and notes that it is little changed from the 1896 edition. Cities are marked by dots of varying size according to their importance, and latitude and longitude are shown around the sheet, so that the map reads as a serious reference work.

In 1897 Spain was fighting the Cuban insurrection, a war that led to the Spanish-American War of 1898 and the loss of Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines, so American readers of a Chicago atlas had a direct interest in the country. Queen Regent Maria Cristina governed for her son Alfonso XIII, while Portugal's King Carlos I reigned in Lisbon. The catalog describes the period as the height of European colonialism and a time of consolidation and modernization on the peninsula. The Pyrenees mark the border with France in the north, and the sheet shows the internal divisions of both countries.

A collector of Chicago map publishing, a reader of the Spanish-American War, or a family with roots in Spain or Portugal will find a bold gift here. TheMapVault's Cram sheet of 1893 is the small souvenir map of the Chicago fair, whereas this Rand McNally sheet of 1897 is the large double-page map, at more than twice the scale, 1:1,930,000, from the publisher's best nineteenth-century atlas. Like every print in the collection, it ships unframed and is available in a full range of sizes, from a compact desk piece to a large-format statement print.