Here’s an interesting find! This is the oldest original transit map that I’ve ever come across, showing the nascent horsedrawn omnibus lines of Paris in the early 19th century. The original source of the map – the State Library of Victoria in Australia, of all places! – tentatively dates the map to 1828, the year that the buses first made an appearance in the city. However, I’d be inclined to place it a little later for a couple of reasons. 

Firstly, the price for a single trip is clearly shown as 30 centimes, but when the first line opened in 1828 the price was only 25 centimes. Secondly, as shown in the last image above, there are eleven competing companies at the time this map was made. There were only ten such companies in 1829, and by 1836 there were 16 – so it makes sense to place the map between those dates (but closer to 1829).

Of particular note is the name of one of the companies: Omnibus – the original Paris concessionaire, following in the footsteps of a successful operation in Nantes that opened in 1826. It is from this company that all modern buses derive their name, although the precise etymology of the original article is uncertain, with one rather fanciful tale involving a hatter’s advertising signs. Perhaps more likely is that this was simply transport “for all”… which omnibus is the Latin for.

What’s really striking about this map is how wonderfully familiar it looks. Here’s a map that’s almost 200 years old, and it has bright colour-coded route lines superimposed on a geographical map of the city. Admittedly, they’re very roughly hand-painted onto a preprinted sheet, but this is essentially the very same format as modern bus maps, which I find quite remarkable.

Our rating: Ancient and modern at the same time. 5 stars! 

Prints of this fascinating map are now available at the Transit Maps print store!

Source: State Library of Victoria