An unusually well-preserved early Crimean War campaign map illustrating the principal theatres of conflict across Eastern Europe and western Asia, issued for the opening stages of Britain's war against Imperial Russia.

Bibliographic Details

Author: Isaac Gregory.
Title: Russia and Turkey. Gregory's Strategical Map of the Seat of the War on the Danube, Baltic, & Asia; Showing the Position of the Hostile Armies; Also, The Route of the Russian Armies in the War of 1828–9.
Publisher: G. Routledge & Co., Farringdon Street, London.
Date: Circa 1854.
Cartographer: Isaac Gregory, Chorlton Hall School, Manchester.
Lithographer: Geo. Falkner, King Street, Manchester.
Format: Folding lithographed map in original green cloth publisher's case with printed paper title label and "One Shilling" price to the upper cover.
Size: Map approximately 59 × 45 cm; folding into original publisher's case.

Condition

Near Fine. An exceptionally well-preserved example. The original green cloth case remains clean and attractive with only light handling wear. The folding map is bright and clean with attractive contemporary outline colouring. One or two tiny closed pin-prick tears occur at fold intersections, but there are no significant tears, repairs or losses. A particularly crisp survival of an ephemeral campaign map.

Description

A scarce and visually attractive Crimean War campaign map, issued during the opening phase of Britain's conflict with Imperial Russia. Rather than concentrating solely upon the Crimean Peninsula, Gregory's map illustrates the wider strategic theatres in which the war was expected to be fought, extending across the Danube basin, the Baltic Sea, the Black Sea and the Caucasus.

Published for a rapidly expanding public eager to follow military events, the map identifies the positions of the opposing armies whilst also tracing the routes followed by the Russian armies during the earlier Russo-Turkish War of 1828–1829. By incorporating this earlier campaign, Gregory sought to provide readers with valuable historical context for understanding Russia's likely military objectives during the new conflict.

The lower portion of the map contains extensive printed statistical notes comparing the military resources, populations and strategic strengths of the Russian and Ottoman Empires. Such information transformed the map from a simple geographical aid into an informative piece of contemporary military intelligence, enabling readers to follow the diplomatic and military developments reported daily in the British press.

Although remembered today for the Siege of Sevastopol and the Charge of the Light Brigade, the Crimean War was in reality fought across numerous theatres, including the Danube, Baltic and Caucasus, all of which feature prominently on this map. Produced before public attention became almost entirely focused upon Crimea itself, Gregory's publication captures British strategic thinking during the earliest months of the war and represents an important example of mid-nineteenth-century popular military cartography.

Notes

A handsome and increasingly uncommon early Crimean War folding map retaining its original publisher's cloth case. Particularly desirable in this excellent state of preservation and with its informative statistical tables intact.