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Challenge for Baedeker collectors

10 Jul 2005

Here is a chance for you to put that old collection to some real use:

I have recently received an enquiry from a geography student looking into glacial recession in the Chamonix and Courmayeur valleys in the Alps. What she is after is evidence of the extent of the glaciers in olden days, and it just so happens that nearly perfect such evidence can be found in editions of SE France and Switzerland: a map of those two very valleys.

In my Sud-Est de la France 7 (1901) there is a map of the area in 1:250,000; while the Suisse 24 (1905) has one in 1:150,000. I have posted scans of those two maps as ChamonixF186.jpg and ChamonixF064.jpg respectively (but beware - they are big: 700 and 600 kbytes).

Here's the challenge: (a) does anyone have an older (or indeed newer) version of either of those maps, showing the glaciers extending differently; and (b) if you do, could you scan the map and send it to me (at the e-mail address below) for passing on to our student?

While you're at it, it would be an interesting exercise as a matter of Baedeker research to establish in which editions these maps were used: presumably in the corresponding English and German-language editions, but for how long? Any information gratefully received!

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