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Carta dell’Italia Superiore coi Passaggi delle Alpi

J. M. Ziegler’s interesting map focuses on the road and railway system, standing out for its attention to topography and for accurately depicting Alpine crossings during a time when the distinction between lowland and mountain roads was keenly felt. The map highlights communication routes, prominently featuring railways marked in red, distinguishing between those already built and those nearing completion. Notably, the Milan-Bologna railway was contested by the Austrians due to its potential to unite the Italians. Published in Winterthur by the printing house of J. Würstel (and Ziegler himself) in 1859.

Jakob Melchior Ziegler (1801 – 1883) was the son of Melchior, a cotton merchant and member of the City Council, and Susanna Troll. After completing his education in Winterthur and Zurich, he pursued studies in mathematics and natural sciences in Geneva and Paris. Throughout his career, he served as a lecturer in mathematics and natural sciences, a forestry inspector, and made significant contributions to the development of the railway network in Switzerland. In 1842, he co-founded a successful lithographic publishing house with Johann Ulrich Wurster. Ziegler also gained recognition as an author of maps and atlases, and made important contributions to cartography and earth sciences. Following the bankruptcy of the Swiss National Railway, he relocated to Basel in 1878, and was granted honorary citizenship in 1880. In 1870, he earned a doctorate from the University of Zurich.