The Cultural Significance of Colour in Protestant Missionary World Maps, ca. 1840-1940

Figures & data

Fig. 1. John Gilbert, The Pictorial Missionary Map of the World (London: James Nisbet & Co., 1861), engraved and printed by Edmund Evans, 73.8 x 48 cm. Courtesy of the National Library of Australia, MAP RM 3764, https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-232361632/view.

Table 1: Colours on Protestant World Maps

No.	Author (surname)	Work Title and Year of Publication	Map Format	Country of Publication	Colour Showing: Protestantism	Catholicism	Orthodoxy	Islam	'Heathen'
1	Wyld	An Atlas of Maps (1839)	Atlas map	United Kingdom	Red (but blue on map of Europe)	Red	Red	Green	Light blue
2	Koenig	Weltkarte (between 1840-1861)	Sheet map	Germany	No colour	No colour	No colour	No colour	No colour
3	SPGFP	Colonial and Missionary Church Map (1842)	Sheet map	England	No colour	No colour	No colour	No colour	No colour
4	Tracey	The World, on the Globular Projection (1843)	Sheet map	United States	No colour	No colour	No colour	No colour	No colour
5a	Nisbet	Children’s Missionary Map (1843)	Sheet map	United Kingdom	White	Dark grey (horizontal)	Light grey (vertical)	Dark grey (vertical)	Black
5b	‘W.R.’	Missions-weltkarte (1845)	Sheet map	Germany	White	Grey (horizontal)	Grey (vertical)	Grey (grid)	Black
6a	Bäschlin	Missionary Double Hemisphere (1844)	Sheet map	Switzerland	White	White	White	Grey	Black
6b		Missionsweltkarte (1891)	Sheet map	Switzerland	Red	Pink	Brown	Grey	Black
6c		Missions-karte (1903)	Sheet map	Switzerland	Red	Pink	Brown	Grey	Black
7	Gover	Protestant Missionary Map (1846)	Wall map	United Kingdom	Dark blue	Red	Pink	Yellow	Grey
8	Morse	Cerographic Missionary Atlas (1848)	Atlas map	United States	No colour	No colour	No colour	No colour	No colour
9a	Groen	Wereldkaart (1851)	Sheet map	Netherlands	No colour	No colour	No colour	No colour	No colour
9b	Groen	Christelijke zendingskaart (1853)	Sheet map	Netherlands	Green	Red	Pink	Yellow	Black
10	Koetsveld	Godsdienst- en zendingskaart (1854)	Sheet map	Netherlands	Yellow	Red	Orange	Green	Grey
11	Josenhans	Atlas der evangelischen Missions-Gesellschaft (1857)	Atlas map	Switzerland	Red	Yellow	Green	Light grey	Dark grey
12a		Algemeene kaart (1857)	Sheet map	Netherlands	White	White	White	Light grey	Dark grey
12b		Maailman kartta (1860)	Sheet map	Finland	White	White	White	Light grey	Black
12c		Werldskarta (s.d.)	Sheet map	Sweden	White	White	White	Light grey	Black
13a	Gilbert	Pictorial Missionary Map (1861)	Wall map	United Kingdom	Dark blue	Red	Grey	Green	Black
13b	Trap	Zendingsprentenkaart (1863)	Wall map	Netherlands	Dark blue	Red	Grey	Yellow	Black
13c		Illustrerad Missions Charta (s.d.)	Wall map	Sweden	Dark blue	Red	Grey	Brown	Black
14a	Grundemann	Missions-Weltkarte (1862)	Wall map	Germany	Blue	Shades of green	Shades of green	Yellow	Grey (in 7 shades)
14b	Grundemann	Zending-wereldkaart (1867)	Wall map	Netherlands	Light green	Grey-blue (vertical)	Grey-blue (horizontal)	Yellow	Grey (in 7 shades, incl. Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism)
15a		Church Missionary Atlas (1862)	Atlas map	United Kingdom	Yellow	Red	Dark red	Green	Dark grey
15b		Church Missionary Atlas (1873)	Atlas map	United Kingdom	Yellow	Red	Light grey	Green	Grey
15c		Church Missionary Atlas (1879)	Atlas map	United Kingdom	Yellow	Pink	Orange	Green	Brown
15d		Church Missionary Atlas (1896)	Atlas map	United Kingdom	Yellow	Red	Pink	Green	Grey
16a	Grundemann	Allgemeiner Missions-Atlas (1867)	Atlas map	Germany	No colour	No colour	No colour	No colour	No colour
16b	Grundemann	Kleiner Missions-Atlas (1886)	Atlas map	Germany	Red	Pink	Pink	Yellow	Grey
16c	Grundemann	Neuer Missions-Atlas (1896)	Atlas map	Germany	Red	Pink	Pink	Yellow	Brown/Grey
16d	Grundemann	Neuer Missions-Atlas (1903)	Atlas map	Germany	Red	Pink	Pink	Yellow	Brown/Grey
17	Colton	Missionary Map (1906)	Atlas map	United States	Yellow	Red	Orange	Green	Grey
18a		Missions-Atlas (1908)	Atlas map	Germany	No colour	No colour	No colour	No colour	No colour
18b		Moravian Missionary Atlas (1908)	Atlas map	United Kingdom	No colour	No colour	No colour	No colour	No colour
19a	World Missionary Conference Committee	Statistical Atlas (1910)	Atlas map	United Kingdom	Red	Pink	Taupe	Green	Grey (Buddhism yellow, Hinduism orange)
19b	Beach	World Atlas (1911)	Atlas map	United States	Red	Pink	Pink	Green	Light blue (Buddhism yellow, Hinduism orange)
19c	Beach	World Missionary Atlas (1925)	Atlas map	United States	Red	Pink	Taupe	Green	Grey (Buddhism yellow, Hinduism orange)

Fig. 2. C.E. van Koetsveld, Godsdienst- en zendingskaart voor den nieuwsten tijd (Groningen: J. Oomkens, Jz., 1855) 44 x 54 cm. Courtesy of Utrecht University Library, *VII*.A.116 (Dk1-1) https://objects.library.uu.nl/reader/index.php?obj=1874-385408&lan=nl#page//11/47/97/114797941729447303618971090928993661104.jpg/mode/1up

Fig. 3. Reinhold Grundemann, Missions-Weltkarte zur ubersicht sammtlicher evangelischen Missions Gebiete (Leipzig: H. Kunsch, 1862) 196 x 102 cm. Courtesy of Barry Lawrence Ruderman Antique Maps Inc., https://www.raremaps.com/gallery/detail/56712/with-annotations-in-papua-new-guinea-missions-weltkarte-z-grundemann.

Fig. 4. Detail from Grundemann, Missions-Weltkarte, 1862. A key explaining colours and lettering.

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