1948 Afrique Australe

This pictorial map of Southern Africa is a fine example of the work of Blondel la Rougery, a leading cartography company in twentieth century France. Interestingly, the map does not show the borders of European colonial holdings in the area, instead opting to just label their names. Produced in 1948, Blondel la Rougery’s map is a wonderful example of pictorial cartography.  Showing the area from Angola and Zimbabwe (labeled Rhodesia in the map) to the southern cape, the map also includes the island of Madagascar, which is not always included in descriptions of the subregion. The map highlights cities like Cape Town (Le Cap), Antananarivo (Tananarive), and Johannesburg. On the borders of the print are vignettes of historical scenes and figures. Featured in the top right corner is the 1879 death of the imperial prince Louis-Napoleon in the Anglo-Zulu War. Louis-Napoleon’s death caused an international sensation, as he was the last hope for the restoration of the House of Napoleon to the