Electoral Cartograms in the 1890s:

Data visualization, the value of a vote,�and mapping constituencies onto communities

Marie Léger-St-Jean · MarieLSJ on Bsky

Ever seen a cartogram?

2024 Election Results in the United States

Cartogram on the Reuters website

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Each electoral vote represented by a hexagon

How are cartograms made?

Animation showing the transition from choropleth map to cartogram

How old are cartograms?

Two choropleth maps from the New York Herald (1899)

1896 presidential election�1898 midterms

Reprinted in newspapers throughout the country

← Lincoln County Leader (Toledo, Oregon)�8 September 1899

But no cartograms

in the US

in the late 19^th century

or early 20^th century

Databases searched:

• Chronicling America
• NYS Historic Newspapers

Meanwhile�in the UK…

Philips’ ‘Simplex’ Chart for Recording�Election Results

1891/92

compiled by�Sir John Foster George Ross-of-Bladensburg

published by�George Philip & Son

19 x 12 cm

opens up to 75 x 56 cm

Recto: Close-up on�England and Wales

• each constituency, no matter the type, is represented as a square
• the squares are arranged to resemble a map
• additional information is provided inside each square

Verso: Summary of Parliamentary Representation

‘Giving Complete List of Constituencies,�with Registered Number of Electors (1891),�and Population according to the last Census.’

• Constituencies
• Politics
• Registered Number of Electors, 1891
• Population, 1891
• Results of General Election, 1892

The tables�are not new

The United Kingdom reformed its electoral system in the 1880s

16-page 1880 pamphlet advocating for basing seat distribution on nb of inhabitants, not voters

Two bills�were passed

• Representation of the People Act 1884
• extended the franchise
• Redistribution of Seats Act 1885
• introduced the concept of�equally populated constituencies

But there are always distorsions

References to ‘Simplex Chart’: Irish Unionist Alliance Publications (1893)

References to ‘Simplex Chart’: Memoranda (August 1895)

What about�the cartogram�on the other side?

Recto: Close-up on�England and Wales

• each constituency, no matter the type, is represented as a square
• the squares are arranged to resemble a map
• additional information is provided inside each square

Electoral Data Visualization in The Times

1885, 1886 and 1892

“Electoral Map of the:

• England and Wales. Boroughs”
• England and Wales. Counties”
• London Boroughs”
• Scotland. Boroughs & Counties”
• Ireland. Boroughs & Counties”

England and Wales. Counties�1892

• classic choropleth map
• two colours
• white: Unionists = Ireland should stay British
• black: Gladstonians = Home Rule for Ireland

England and Wales. Boroughs�1892

• each borough represented on the map as:
• one dot: black or white
• two dots: one of each
• the number of members for each block in each borough is indicated in the dot of the corresponding colour

London, 1892

• classic choropleth map even if these are boroughs

Scotland. Boroughs & Counties�1892

• combination of
• counties: choropleth map
• boroughs: symbols

Ireland. Boroughs & Counties�1892

• same combination as for Scotland
• counties: choropleth map
• boroughs: symbols
• different political blocks
• white: Unionists = Ireland should stay British
• black circle/horizontal lines: Anti-Parnellites
• black square/vertical lines: Parnellites

1. The British electoral system was a hard patchwork to visualize.

Cartograms offer better visualization

• all the information fits onto the same visualization
• each member of parliament is presented in the same form

Once coloured, the cartogram visualizes the actual political weight of each block.

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• Data visualization�is not neutral.

1892 Political Blocks

The Times

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• white = Ireland should stay British
• Unionists
• black = Home Rule for Ireland
• Gladstonians
• Parnellites
• Anti-Parnellites

‘Simplex Chart’

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• Conservatives
• Liberal Unionists
• Gladstonians
• Irish Nationalists of all denominations

The ‘Simplex’ Chart Publication History

The ‘Simplex’ Chart�in The Times

1895 and 1900

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• before and after
• in 1895, also a blank one to fill out at home
• in 1900, one midway

The ‘Simplex’ Chart moves to the Daily Mail in 1906

open up to 99 x 63 cm

The greatest discovery of my research trip!

Many thanks to the British Library librarians for holding on to this ephemera!

p. 81

p. 82

It’s still a valid patent!

Thank you to Nicola Beech from the Maps Reference Team at the British Library for all her precious help allowing me to see all the material I wanted in just 3 days 😃

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And to Daniel Wilkinson for ordering 1092.(13.), which is not catalogued!

CODA

How did maps move in the world?

A clue in Milwaukee

in the collection of the�American Geographical Society Library

Alexander Gross

(1879 – 1958)

Jewish Hungarian immigrant�first founded Geographia in London

moved to the United States