1834

ORIGINAL   ANTIQUE   ENGRAVED   HAND   COLORED   MAP

 NAPLES.  SICILY.

  or

  THE TWO SICILIES.

Title:  Antique Map of  NAPLES or THE TWO SICILIES.  Includes a second separate sheet with a list of the towns and cities of  these regions.  

Publisher:  Carey, Lea, & Blanchard:  Philadelphia.

Date Published:  1834

Size:  The map printed area measures approximately 3 1/2 by 5 1/2 inches (9 by 14 cm).   The actual page size measures approximately 4 1/4 by 6 3/4 inches (11 by 17 cm).  

Condition:  The map is in Very Good to Fine, clean condition with the original hand coloring showing brightly.  There is some light uniform age toning  to the paper.  The photos show the actual map that you will receive.  The picture of the framed map shows how you could easily mat and frame this map.  The map in the frame is from a different listing.  There is no mat or frame included in this sale, only the original, antique 1834 map and data sheet, and, a copy of the title page of the book from which this map was taken.  

Topic:   Naples.  Sicily. or the Two Sicilies.  

Additional Comments:  This also comes with a copy of the title page of the volume from which this map comes.  Please note that the map and the list of towns are originals, not copies.

You will receive the authentic, engraved, antique map pictured here.  This map is over 185 year old.  The map is hand colored, as issued.  The map is from The Geographical Annual which was published in Philadelphia by Carey, Lea & Blanchard in 1834. 

The map is not mounted, matted or framed.  It is being sold as a single loose map with the second sheet showing listed data.  This map is an easy and economical item to frame and display.    

The following brief selection from Wikipedia will explain this uncommon map showing how the Two Sicilies came to exist for a short period of history.  As any map collector will tell you, maps can display a great deal of history.

"British occupation

The Bourbon kings officially resided in Naples, except for a brief period during the Napoleonic Wars between 1806 and 1815, when the royal family lived in exile in Palermo. The Sicilian nobles welcomed British military intervention during this period and a new constitution was developed specifically for Sicily based on the Westminster model of government - in that a two-chamber parliament was formed (instead of the three of the existing one). The formation of the parliament brought the end of feudalism in the Kingdom.

The British were committed to preserving the security of the Kingdom of Sicily so as to keep Mediterranean sea routes open against the French. The British dispatched several expeditions of troops between 1806 and 1815 and built strong fortifications around Messina.

Kingdom of the Two Sicilies

The Kingdoms of Naples and Sicily were officially merged in 1816 by Ferdinand I to form the Kingdom of th Two Sicilies.   The accession of Ferdinand II as king of the Two Sicilies in 1830 was hailed by Sicilians; they dreamed that autonomy would be returned to the island and the problems of poverty and maladministration of justice would be tackled by the count of Syracuse, the king's brother and lieutenant in Sicily.

The royal government in Naples saw the problem of Sicily as being purely administrative, a question of making existing institutions function properly. Neapolitan ministers had no interest in serious reforms. Ferdinand's failure, leading to disillusion and the revolt of 1837, was due mainly to his making no attempt to gain support in the Sicilian middle class, with which he could have faced the power of the baronage.

Simmering discontent with Bourbon rule and hopes of Sicilian independence led to major revolts in 1820 and 1848 against Bourbon denial of constitutional government. The 1848 revolution resulted in a sixteen-month period of independence from the Bourbons before its armed forces took back control of the island on 15 May 1849. The city of Messina long harbored proponents of independence throughout the 19th century, and its urban Risorgimento leaders arose out of a diverse milieu comprising artisans, workers, students, clerics, Masons, and sons of English, Irish, and other settlers.

The 1847-48 unrest enjoyed wide support in Messina and produced an organized structure, and consciousness of the need to link the struggle to the whole of Sicily. The insurgents briefly gained control of the city but, despite bitter resistance, the Bourbon army was victorious and suppressed the revolt. This suppression resulted in further oppression, created a diaspora of Messinian and Sicilian revolutionaries outside Sicily and locked Sicily under the control of the reactionary government. The bombardments of Messina and Palermo earned Ferdinand II the name "King Bomba"."

 When this map was printed and sold, Andrew Jackson was the President of the United States.  Slavery ruled this antebellum era.  Texas was two years away from fighting the Alamo and winning independence.  Legendary historical names of American history were alive and busy with their activities; names like Davy Crocket, Martin Van Buren, John Quincy Adams, John C Calhoun, Daniel Webster, and Jim Bridger.  Westward expansion was just getting under way and the railroads were in their early stages of development.  

Around the world, slavery was made illegal in the British Empire in 1834.  Charles Darwin was conducting his scientific research.  1835 saw the first railroad arrive in continental Europe, in Belgium.  In 1837, Victoria became the Queen of Great Britain at the age of 18.  Africa was still mostly the unexplored continent.  Asia was ruled by the Qing Dynasty, and the seeds of the Opium Wars were being laid.  New Holland was getting to become known as Australia although many atlases would be slow to change names.  In the Middle East, Egypt and Turkey were fighting over control of the Levant.  Even though Simon Bolivar had died in 1830, his heritage helped many colonies in South America find their independence.  

A little added information about the publisher shows that the Carey family was well known as cartographers.  The family consisted of the father, Mathew Carey (1760-1839) and his son, Henry, and son-in-law, Issac Lea, and they were also well known as printers and publishers.  Matthew Carey was born in Dublin, where at the age of 17 he published pamphlets on the Severity of the Irish Penal Code and another criticizing the English Parliament.  Due his publications he was sought for prosecution by the House of Commons.  He fled to Paris where he met Benjamin Franklin.  Franklin employed him for a year in his printing house in 1781.    He returned to Ireland for a period and published a couple of Irish Nationalist newspapers.  Again he was in trouble with the English Crown.  In 1784 he found it necessary to flee Ireland by ship, dressed as a woman.  He fled to the United States where he opened up his own successful printing company.  This map is from the American edition of The Geographical Annual which was originally published in London under the aegis of King William IV and the maps were all stated to be by the cartographer Thomas Starling.   Very conveniently, Carey left out of the American edition all acknowledgments of the King and Thomas Starling.  The American copyright law passed by Congress in 1790 excluded the protection of international works by non citizens.  This resulted in a great number of American books using material from other countries.