Old Bird's-Eye Map of South Africa, 1930: Cape Town, Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, Drakensberg

2026-04-26T00:22:58+01:00

Price: 0.00 - 1875.00 (42 variants)

The Visitors' Touring Map of South Africa, issued in 1930 by George Philip & Son in collaboration with the Union of South Africa, unfolds the country in a luminous bird’s-eye panorama designed to kindle wanderlust. In the warm, slightly muted palette reminiscent of Fred Routledge’s celebrated airplane maps, coastlines, mountain chains, and river courses are drawn with theatrical sweep, while the Atlantic and Indian Oceans bracket the scene like stage curtains. Major routes stride confidently across the land, guiding the eye from port to plateau, from vineyards to veld. It is at once an enticement and an orientation—an artful promise that modern transport, abundant sunshine, and storied landscapes converge in a single, navigable vision.

George Philip & Son, a venerable British cartographic house renowned for precise atlases and widely used school maps, here demonstrates a flair for pictorial persuasion. In the interwar years the firm embraced lively promotional mapping, aligning exacting geography with audience-catching artistry. Their partnership with the Union’s publicity apparatus speaks to a strategic moment: two decades after unification in 1910, South Africa was polishing its international image and courting long-haul travelers. The presence of a Thomas Cook, New York, label betrays an American target market, dovetailing with the travel giant’s post-1928 consolidation and its expertise in marshalling group tours across ocean and continent.

The map renders South Africa’s urban constellation with clarity and pride. Cape Town anchors the southwest, its approach framed by coastal ranges and the storied promontories of the Cape. From there, bold transport lines sweep inland toward Kimberley and Bloemfontein, then climb to the highveld’s great twins—Johannesburg and Pretoria—whose proximity underscores one city’s commercial dynamism and the other’s governmental poise. Eastward, Natal’s shoreline is punctuated by Durban, while Port Elizabeth and East London mark the south coast’s industrial arc. Rivers like the Orange and its tributary the Vaal cut a coppery path across the interior, and the upland spine of the Drakensberg lends a dramatic, serrated horizon to the nation’s eastern frontier.

Tourism, mining, and mobility are the map’s three-part refrain. The great goldfields of the Witwatersrand are spotlighted around Johannesburg, their significance to modern South African identity conveyed through emphatic labels and strategic placement. Kimberley’s diamond mines gleam as cultural touchstones of enterprise and legend. Yet the cartographer does more than catalog resource wealth: by threading rail lines and motor routes past mines, mountain passes, and rivers, the design recasts industry as itinerary. Travelers are invited to pair the spectacle of engineering with the scenery of nature—steel ribbons traversing open veld, coach roads skirting escarpments—an itinerary of contrasts that promised both comfort and adventure.

Framing the Union within its regional neighborhood, the map’s key inset clarifies provinces such as Transvaal, the Orange Free State, and Natal, then reaches outward to label British Bechuanaland, Southern Rhodesia with Bulawayo, and South West Africa with Windhoek. This broader canvas underscores South Africa’s role as a southern gateway to the subcontinent, where rail corridors and highways linked ports to interior capitals and beyond. The publication openly champions the advantages of group travel, speaking the language of the era’s streamlined logistics and curated itineraries. As a work of geographic persuasion, it captures the buoyant moment when publicity, infrastructure, and natural drama converged to sell a nation to the world.

Cities and towns on this map

Johannesburg

Pretoria

Durban

Cape Town

Port Elizabeth

Bloemfontein

Kimberley

East London

Bulawayo (Southern Rhodesia, modern Zimbabwe)

Windhoek (South West Africa, modern Namibia)

Notable Features & Landmarks

Major cities and towns marked clearly.

Routes for travel depicted prominently.

Illustrations of natural features (mountains, rivers).

Notations for diamond and gold mines.

Key map inset showing regions within South Africa and neighboring areas.

Labels for the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.

Historical and design context

Published in 1930 by George Philip & Son with the Union of South Africa.

Vintage pictorial, bird’s-eye perspective designed to entice tourists.

Artistic style resembles Fred Routledge’s “airplane map” style, featuring slightly muted tones and warmer colors.

Covers mention group travel advantages and a Thomas Cook, New York, label, indicating tourism promotion.

Reflects early 20th-century efforts to promote South Africa’s natural resources and tourism infrastructure.

Themes shown: tourism, mining industries, transportation routes.

Shows the Union’s provinces (Transvaal, Orange Free State, Natal) and references neighboring regions such as British Bechuanaland and Southern Rhodesia.

Please double check the images to make sure that a specific town or place is shown on this map. You can also get in touch and ask us to check the map for you.

This map looks great at every size, but I always recommend going for a larger size if you have space. That way you can easily make out all of the details.

This map looks amazing at sizes all the way up to 90in (230cm). If you are looking for a larger map, please get in touch.

The model in the listing images is holding the 18x24in (45x60cm) version of this map.