Geographical Diagrams by REYNOLDS, James and John EMSLIE - 1851

London: James Reynolds, 1851. In fine condition.. Twelve sheets measuring 230 x 284 mm., comprising six maps, five illustrated sheets, and single hemispheric diagram of the earth with two attached circular discs; all with original contemporary handcolouring; a fine set in original folding red cloth portfolio with front board gilt lettered "Geographical Diagrams" Curious portfolio of twelve handcoloured sheets revealing the world to an enlightened public, with fine maps alongside illustrated plates of animals, people, waterfalls, mountains and other geographical phenomena, with a deal of the fine lettering adorning the sheets concerns Australia and New Zealand. For example, the Tidal Chart features a fine small engraved text explaining 'the tide wave taking its rise in the great polar ocean to the south of New Holland…' while the Botanical Map celebrates the diversity of Australian flora, a 'region of gum trees, acacias, ferns, &c' totalling some '4100 species, less than 100 are found in Europe'. The Pacific islands are marked as the home of bread fruit trees, cocoa nut trees and yams, while New Zealand is the home of flax. Likewise the Zoological Map describes Australia as 'District of the Kangaroo, Emu, Cockatoo, Black Swan, Opossum and Porcupine Ant Eaters'. One of the illustrated sheets, titled The Principal Varieties of Mankind, depicts Tasmanian and South Australian Aboriginal subjects; and three Polynesians including men of New Zealand and Hawaii. Much of its charm lies in the creative combination of formal cartography and other modes of knowledge into appealing visual displays. The publisher James Reynolds (1817-1876), was a bookseller and copperplate printer who operated from the Strand for forty years. By the mid-nineteenth century his business was strong and Reynolds employed four printers and various family members. These plates were skilfully engraved by John Emslie, who was also employed by the Arrowsmiths. Both Emslie and Reynolds were elected members of the Royal Geographical Society, reflecting a lifelong commitment to cartographic excellence.Each of the maps and diagrams was separately printed over a two year period from 1849-1851. All twelve sheets are beautifully preserved in the original folding cloth case. A full listing of contents as follows:Maps:Physical Map of the World from the Discoveries of the Most Eminent Modern Geographers. Air temperature shown in isotherms with the equatorial zenith coloured red, air currents marked with arrows, summer and winter range of artic ice coloured pale green;Distribution of the Currents of Air [with] Meteorological Map Showing the Distribution of the Rain over the World;Ethnological Map Showing the Distribution of the Human Race. With inset map of the prevailing religions of the world (revealing that most of the globe remains 'pagan'); and an illustration of the skulls of the world, using the fivefold racial division originally expounded by Blumenbach (Caucasian, Mongolian, Ethiopian, Malay and American);Physical Map of the British Isles and Surrounding Seas. Shaded to show ocean depth, with an inset British meteorological chart;Tidal Chart of the World Showing the Progress of the Wave of High Water [with] Botanical Map Showing the Distribution of Plants and their Cultivation Over the World. First map charts the movement of a tidal wave, second rich in detail about distribution of both wild plants and crops;Zoological Map Showing the Distribution of Animals [with] The Distribution of Birds and Reptiles. Both with inset perpendicular diagrams of exaggerated mountains marked with the species at respective altitudes;Geographical Diagram of the Earth Adapted for Illustrating it's Movements. With two separately printed handcoloured circular discs attached with neat string ties, each being the northern and southern hemispheres respectively; with a view to calculating axial motion, differences of time and date, etcetera. Illustrated sheets:Mountains. Exaggerated schematic diagram, divided into geographical zones, and also including active volcanoes;The Principal Varieties of Mankind. In six groups: Asiatics, Australians, Europeans, Polynesians, Africans and Americans; Comparative View of the Principal Buildings of the World. Classical, European, Chinese structures all dwarfed by the great pyramid of Giza;Panoramic Plan of Principal Rivers and Lakes. Idealised comparison, to scale; Waterfalls. Composite of the world's largest waterfalls to form a comparative scheme.