Our Notes & References

Impressive wall-map of Crimea, with a wealth of information: a presentation copy of the first edition of this detailed document of military topographical intelligence produced at the outbreak of the war in the region.

Based upon an 1816 survey by Major General Semyon Mukhin, it was published with significant amendments and updates by Thomas Best Jervis (1796-1857), a major of the Corps of Engineers and member of the Geological and Geographical Societies, who presented this copy to Her Majesty’s 30th Regiment. A contemporary manuscript note, next to one of the presentation inscriptions, gives the publisher as being Williams & Norgate and Petheram (which could be confirmed by a Williams & Norgate label which we found on another example). The map was subsequently re-issued in various formats, with editions published in Turin, Paris and Brussels.

Making maps was Jervis’s passion and from 1846 he began to pitch his proposals for military cartography to Lord Aberdeen, insisting that the War Office needed someone to improve the geographical information available to expeditionary forces. The start of the Crimean war and lack of information about the territory that the British forces were to encroach proved Jervis’s point. Thus, with the permission from the War Office Jervis went to work with alacrity and created a map of the Crimea. Subsequently, on 2 February 1855, Lord Panmure finally made the foundation of an intelligence department official, which was to be called the Topographical and Statistical Department and of which Jervis was to take command.

This example of Jervis’ map later belonged to Major Gerald Wilson Reside (1906-99), whose name and address appears on the accompanying letter. The addresser, Pauline from 24 Sussex Street in London SW1V, writes that she “tried several publishing houses on the subject of your [Major Reside’s] maps […]. The last one I spoke to has suggested […] that you write to the director of the Maps Dept, The National Army Museum, Royal Hospital Road, London SW3 to see if they are interested in your maps”.

Gerald Reside served with the Royal Artillery in France and Belgium during the Second World War, achieving the rank of Major. He settled in the Newry area and dedicated his life to collecting rare and important documents on local history. His collection of 10,000 documents is now kept at the Newry & Mourne Museum.

This copy also shows a discrete blind-stamped moto, not always present on other copies: “Geography While it explores the darkest recesses of nature should light up the darkest retreats of Humanity”.

Provenance

T.B. Jervis and Her Majesty’s 30th Regiment, contemporary presentation inscription “Presented to Her Majesty’s 30th Regiment by T.B. Jervis” (presentation inscription in two places); Major Gerald Wilson Reside, N. Ireland (addressee of the accompanying letter).

Bibliography

Wade, Spies in the Empire: Victorian Military Intelligence, p.25; Smekalov, S. “Pechatnye kartograficheskie materialy po Krymu XVIII-XIX vv. v fondakh RNB i BAN”.