República Argentina / Ministerio de Obras Publicas / Red de ferrocarriles en la fecha del centenario / Confeccionado con los dalos obtenidos por la dirección general de ferrocarriles…

Description

Spectacular large-format 1910 railroad map depicting Argentina in its entirety, but also showing the neighboring nations of Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay, as well as southern Bolivia and Brazil. The map’s primary purpose is to display the extent of the Argentine rail transport network, which expanded greatly in the first half of the 20th century, and was at one time the most extensive in the world. There is a clear pattern that radiates out from Buenos Aires; this is the hub from which nearly all railway lines extend.

The map is incredibly detailed, including not only the national lines, but also smaller rural networks. As is common for many large countries where railway was introduced as a crucial means of infrastructure, there is a rather dense network in close proximity to the capital. This density drops the further one moves away, and in the south of Argentina, there are hardly any railways at all. Only two stretches cut across the pampas, linking up the coastal networks with the Rio Negro Valley in the south and the frontier town of Zapala further north. In the deep south, another two small lines have been depicted, including their prospective extensions.

In the lower right corner of the map we find a series of insets in the lower right corner display the cities of Buenos Aires, Mendoza, Rosario, Cordoba, Bahia Blanca, Tucuman, and Santa Fé.

In addition to its compelling details, the map is stunning — a gorgeous example of early 20th century South American chromolithography.

Census

Quite rare: OCLC/WorldCat lists only one example, at the Bibliotheque nationale de France, and that was on three separate sheets with no mention of covers.