Author: Tokyo.
Title: [Kaisei Tokyo Zenzu].
Description: Tokyo, Tsunashima Kamekichi 1891 (Meiji 24). 49x71cm coloured map folding down to 17x9cm with flexible card covers with title label. Covers marked, minor signs of use, a couple of tiny holes; a rather good copy. I'm pretty sure the map is engraved, the colouring added by blocks or stencils. ¶ Not all maps of Meiji Tokyo were created equal. There were a lot of good folding maps but 1891 was the year the map maker and/or publisher surpassed themselves and everyone else in terms of downright delightful design and colour. One startling difference between 19th century and present day Tokyo is the way old Tokyo and Edo before it rotated freely, as if on a spindle, without heed to the compass. Look at any group of 19th century maps of the city and north will be somewhere different. I guess somewhere in the 20th century Tokyo got so weighed down with concrete it ground to a stop.

Keywords: maps cartography c19th Japan Tokyo cities meiji