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Monthly Archives: March 2019

Nellie Bly, Game Changer

March 8, 2019by themaphouse

This International Women’s Day, we are celebrating a remarkable woman – pioneer of investigative journalism in America, rights activist and intrepid traveller, Elizabeth Jane Cochran (1864-1922), better known as Nellie […]

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For over a century, The Map House has specialized in collecting fine cartographic material. Whether you are planning a visit to our Knightsbridge gallery or are curious about antique maps and prints more generally, we welcome your interest.

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One of the great maps of the Arabian Peninsula of the 17th Century, based on a map first issued by Joan Blaeu. 🌍 • The geographical shape of the map is based on the map by Hugo van Linschoten, published in his travel book c.1599 but with additions and revisions. Other sources include Blaeu’s own wall map of Asia published in 1608 as well as Dutch portolan charts. This map also follows the orthodox division of the Peninsula, namely, Arabia Petrae, Arabia Felix and Arabia Deserta; these divisions stem back to classical times and refer to the region around the city of Petra, in the northwest of the Peninsula; Deserta corresponds to the desert and is in the north; Felicis or Felix represents a reference to the classical writer Diodorus Siculus who describes an extraordinarily advanced civilization in the Yemen, a thriving fertile land with a vast network of irrigation canals which transformed the formerly arid landscape. The reports of this "Felix" or thriving Arabia were likely to have been augmented by the accounts of the prosperity and might of the extraordinary Arabian Empire which flourished from the 8th to the 13th century. This accounts for it being the largest of the geographical divisions marked on the map. Furthermore, Blaeu’s map of the Peninsula shows much greater interior detail, including the location of the city of Medina with note marking its location as the tomb of Mohammed. • It is believed that Blaeu’s map acted as a model for a map of the Peninsula by his great rival, Johannes Jansson; however there is some confusion about its dating map as Blaeu first issued his map in the Atlas Major in 1662 while Jansson first issued his map in 1658. • This example published circa 1700, was first published by Jansson; however, Gerhard Valk and Pieter Schenk obtained the copper plate after the winding up of Jansson’s firm and issued the map again with their imprint on the cartouche on the lower left. • #arabia #arabiafelix #history #mapping #middleeast #maps #mapa #carte #geography #raremaps #antiquemaps #map #explore #discover #wanderlust #gift #gallery #london #knightsbridge #southkensington

An amusingly incorrect map of Greenland and the mythical island of Frisland by Vincenzo Coronelli oublished circa 1692. Supposedly discovered by a pair of Venetian explorers, Nicoló and Antonio Zeno, the completely fictional island of Frisland is mapped in excellent detail with several towns marked and named, along with mountain ranges and bodies of water 🏝 • Frisland first appeared on the Zeno map which was published in 1558 by a descendent of the two brothers, confusingly also named Nicoló. The map accompanied a series of letters which were purported to have been written around 1400 and which described the journey of the Zeno brothers across the North Atlantic and the locations they discovered along the way. This is now widely discredited as a hoax, albeit one of the most successful hoaxes in history. The island of Frisland continued to appear for almost two centuries on some European maps. • It is now believed by some scholars that the Zeno myth was propagated by the Venetian state to upset the claim that Christopher Columbus, a Genoan, was the first European to have reached the Americas. Genoa and Venice were bitter rivals and any opportunity to supplant a Genoese explorer with a Venetian would have been extremely tempting. Much of the longevity of the myth, however, should be credited to Gerard Mercator who accepted the account as truth and whose reputation therefore granted legitimacy to an otherwise questionable source. • Find out who else mapped the mythical island, visit themaphouse.com and search "Frisland". • #FridayFeeling #islands #islandlife #mapping #maps #raremaps #history #geography #mapmishap #terraincognito #mapa #antiques #antiquemaps #london #gallery

Magnificent bird's eye view plan of Constantinople, modern day Istanbul, by Matthäus Seutter. With a stunning panorama of the city and key to the most important buildings on the skyline. Published circa 1740 and presented in original colour. • Matthäus Seutter (1678-1757) was an important German map publisher. He began his career in mapmaking and publishing apprenticed to Johann Baptist Homann, another prominent German engraver. After his apprenticeship, Seutter left to establish his own business. The majority of Seutter's work is based upon the work of his master Homann and that of Guillaume De l'Isle. In 1732, he was named "Imperial Geographer" by German Emporer Charles VI. • For more city maps, visit themaphouse.com, DM or email maps@themaphouse.com and we will highlight maps for you. #maps #raremaps #mapping #antiquemaps #citymaps #istanbul #Constantinople #map #travel #destination #history #geography #mapa

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