Beautiful mid-century pictorial map of Antarctica

Description

This intriguing folding map of Antarctica was published by The Daily Telegraph in 1957 as part of the celebration of the International Geophysical Year and the associated upcoming Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition.

The International Geophysical Year was an international scientific collaboration lasting from July 1957 to December 1958. Under the participation of 67 countries, it involved projects across 14 Earth sciences disciplines. As part of that, international exploration of the South Pole experienced an unprecedented peak, including the establishment of no less than 50 Antarctic research stations by 12 nations.

The Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completed the first overland crossing of Antarctica, via the South Pole, between November 1957 and March 1958. It was led by British explorer Sir Vivian Fuchs and received support from a logistics team headed by Sir Edmund Hillary.

The map conveys a wealth of information. Notable features include, among other:

• Relief is rendered pictorially, with elevation given where known.
• Glaciers and ice shelfs are indicated in great detail.
• Numerous placenames are provided.
• “Areas explored or seen by man” are coloured in yellow.
• Bases proposed to be established as part of the International Geophysical Year are indicated by half a dozen symbols, representing key countries as well as “other”.
• Throughout the map, dates of first sightings or visits by western explorers are provided.

Importantly, the proposed route of the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition is marked by a thick red line, with the related bases indicated as well.

Thin red lines are used to demark the boundaries of dependencies claimed by a number of countries. Only a couple of years later, these would become obsolete, with one of the direct outcomes of the International Geophysical Year being the Antarctic Treaty System, which, among other, prohibits territorial claims in Antarctica. It is also considered the first arms control agreement during the Cold War.

The map is framed by a band of vignettes, showing typical topographical features and fauna of Antarctica as well as explorers of the continent, along with equipment they used.

At top left, there is a legend, also providing a distance scale. Further, there is a cartouche at lower right, holding a variety of “Facts and Figures” about Antarctica. In addition, there is an inset at top right, showing the British Isles on the same scale as the main map, for comparison purposes. Finally, there is an inset at bottom left, presenting a map of the northern and southern hemispheres, with Commonwealth of Nations countries depicted in red colour.

A superb historical document with plenty of detail to discover.

Condition

Fine.

Issued folding. Printed colour. One minute spot in top left corner, else bright and clean throughout.

Reference

Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition. (2025, October 14). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_Trans-Antarctic_Expedition

International Geophysical Year. (2025, October 27). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Geophysical_Year

U.S. Antarctic Program. n.d. U.S. National Science Foundation. https://www.nsf.gov/geo/opp/us-antarctic-program#

Item #: 00052

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