Part of South Australia

Topographic map of part of South Australia from Lake Torrens to Kangaroo Island with place names and named features, and showing counties and mining districts. Mapping of the coast from Elliston in the west to the Coorong in the east, and from Kangaroo Island in the south to Mt. Deception in the north. The depiction of Lake Torrens indicates exploration not very advanced at this date.

This steel engraved map, with relief shown by hachures, was drawn and engraved by John Rapkin, with illustrations drawn by H Warren and engraved by J Rogers. The map is hand coloured and adorned with five small, finely engraved vignettes, and is enclosed in a decorative border. The inset vignettes include a view of Adelaide with Aboriginals in the foreground, a dingo or Australian dog, a nymphicus (parrot), natives on a catamaran and the Seal of South Australia.

This map was originally a plate within Tallis's The illustrated atlas and modern history of the world geographical, political, commercial and statistical, which includes text by R. Montgomery Martin. First published in 1850-1851 and issued several times during the 1850s, the atlas consists of eighty maps of all parts of the world and was originally sold in parts at 1 shilling or 25 cents. The maps were engraved on steel by the gifted artist and engraver John Rapkin.

The use of vignette of views, wildlife and inhabitants of the country and of decorative framing is a distinctive feature of Tallis maps. Most commonly Tallis maps were published with only a limited amount of colour, usually outlining boundaries and topographic features. However, many owners of Tallis atlases eventually commissioned colourists to tint the vignettes. In some cases, modern colouring has also been added to the original engravings.

The State Library holds three variations of colouring for the Tallis map of South Australia. The hand colouring of the map on display varies for the other copies held in that the coastline is outlined in blue, rather than the more usual red outlining, and the mining districts are not marked with red dots.

John Tallis's illustrated atlas is considered to be one of the last decorative atlases and Tallis maps, now most commonly sold as separate map sheets from debound atlases, are popular collector's items.

Part of South Australia: historical significance

Records colony of South Australia in 1851:

• almost 50 years after Matthew Flinders and Nicholas Baudin first charted the southern coast in 1802
• 15 years after proclamation of the colony of South Australia in 1836
• highlights explorer Edward John Eyre's 1840 expedition north to the interior of Australia, and attempt to find an overland route between the settlements of South Australia and Swan River on Australia's western coast.
• Early counties of the colony are outlined eg Stanley, Gawler, Light, Eyre, Adelaide, Sturt, Hindmarsh, Russell
• relief - indicating gradients - shown by hachures or line shadings
• includes notes about the country and vegetation, indicating the harsh environment eg: 'stony and barren plains', 'dense brush' , 'barren country with salt lakes'.
• South Australia's population in 1851: 63,700: almost one quarter of the European population lived in City of Adelaide, and another quarter on the Adelaide Plains; the other large settlements were the copper mining centres
• Mining Districts (marked with red dots): crucial role in development of the colony:
• 1841: Australia's first metal mine with silver and lead at Wheal Gawler at Glen Osmond - produced Australia's first mineral exports
• from 1840s: copper mining successes at Kapunda and Burra (Burra Burra)
• by 1850 South Australia was one of the world's major copper producers, and copper comprised two-thirds of the total value of its exports.

Permission to use this item for any purpose, including publishing, is not required from the State Library under these conditions of use.

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