Welcome to a DOT story about the "Travel and Influence Map" by Franz Raffelsburger, made in 1826.

Vienna at the center.

This Franz Raffelsperger topological map, a penman’s treasure, answers your burning questions: "It's 1826 and I need to post a letter from Vienna to Rome; when will it arrive?"  

source: davidrumsey.com

Beautiful cartouche!

Raffelsperger was a cartographer who "became fascinated with postal cartography...however, due to a contretemps, he was suspended from his post [at the Austrian Postal Directorate] in 1849, and dismissed in 1851. Latterly, Raffelsperger became something of a recluse and dedicated his time to academic writing and publishing."

Rome

Each circle is a city linked by to/from arrows annotated with the "postwagen’s" departure day and time, reaching from Vienna to "as far south as Rome and as far north as Berlin; as far west as St. Gallen, Switzerland and as far east as Lemburg (Lviv, Ukraine)."

Timetable 1

Timetable 2

Further info

Laibach is now Ljubljana. A colleague and friend of mine, William Blomstedt, now lives in Ljubljana.