Africa Performed by the Sr D Anville under the Patronage of the Duke of Orleansrevised and improved by Mr Bolton...E Bowen
Cartographer : - Bowen, Emanuel 1694 - 1767
- Date: - 1765
- Size: - 47in x 41in (1.20m x 1.04m)
- Ref#: - 40910-1
- Condition: - (A+) Fine Condition
Description:
This very large 4 sheet original copper plate engraved antique map of Africa by Solomon Bolton after the French cartographer Jean Baptiste Bourguignon D Anville, was engraved by Emmanuel Bowen and published in the 1765 edition of Malachy Postlethweyts monumental 2 Volume tomes on The Universal Dictionary of Trade & Commerce concentrating on various states of trade, including slavery, between England and America published between 1751 & 1774.
Malachy Postlethweyt 1707 – 1767
Malachy Postlethweyts Dictionary of Trade & Commerce:
A monumental dictionary of trade and commerce. It is based in part on the Dictionnaire universel de Commerce (Paris: 1723-30) of Jacques Savary de Bruslon, under whose name it is often catalogued, but has been adapted by Postlethwayt for a British audience, with substantial enlargements and improvements, and entirely new material relating to England and her colonies. Postlethwayt devoted twenty years to the preparation of the dictionary, which was first published in 1751-55 & includes a description of British affairs in North America since the peace of 1763.
As with his other works, the dictionary demonstrates Postlethway’s deep commitment to the expansion and strengthening of English trade. Included are entries for geographical locations (Africa, Antilles, Canada, Japan, Louisiana, &c.), products (brandy, cardamom, codfish, diamonds, sugar, &c.), trading companies (Dutch East India Company, English African Company, &c.), treaties of commerce, and a vast range of other information of value to merchants (bankruptcy, currency, bills of exchange, brokerage, exportation, landed interest, privateering, &c.). The Dictionary is also important for containing almost the whole substance of Richard Cantillons Essay on Commerce, its first appearance in print.
General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: -
Colors used: -
General color appearance: -
Paper size: - 47in x 41in (1.20m x 1.04m)
Plate size: - 40in x 39in (1.10m x 990mm)
Margins: - Min 1in (25mm)
Imperfections:
Margins: - None
Plate area: - Light age toning left fold
Verso: - None
This is one of the largest and most influential maps, of Africa, to appear in the mid-18th century. Engraved by Emmanuel Bowen after J.B. D Anville, the map covers the entire continent of Africa from the Mediterranean to the Cape of Good Hope and from the Cape Verde Islands to Madagascar. D Anville was a careful cartographer known for his scientific approach to map-making, and nowhere is this more evident than in this, one of his greatest and most innovative maps of Africa. Following the trajectory set by Guillaume de L Isle half a century earlier, D Anville takes a number of significant steps forward in addressing the confusions inherent in mapping this vast though mostly, in the mid-17th century, unexplored continent. These include unreliable cartographic suppositions regarding the African interior dating practically to antiquity. Many of these, including such speculative ideas as the Mountains of Kong, have been diminished if not removed entirely from this map, leaving vast unexplored areas throughout.
What was known of Africa, however, D Anville incorporates here in an impressive compilation of the most up to date reports from colonial, missionary, and exploratory entradas into the interior of the continent. Thus well mapped parts of the continent are limited to the Mediterranean Coast, Morocco, the Senegambia, the Congo, South Africa, the Kingdom of Monomatapa, Abyssinia, and egypt. Morocco, egypt, and the southern Mediterranean Coast (Barbary) were well known to europeans since antiquity and D Anvilles accurate mapping of these regions reflects continual contact. Further south the colonial enclaves along the Niger River (Senegal and Gambia), the Congo River, and South Africa reflect considerable detail associated with European penetration by trader and missionaries. The land of Monomopota around the Zambezi River was explored early in the 16th century by the Portuguese in hopes that the legendary gold mines supposedly found there would counterbalance the wealth flowing into Spain from the New Word. Unfortunately these mines, often associated with the Biblical kingdom of Ophir, were mostly tapped out by the 15th century. Abyssinia (modern day ethiopia) was mapped in detail by early Italian missionaries and of considerable interest to Europeans first, because it was (and is) predominantly Christian; second, because it was a powerful well-organized and unified kingdom; and third because the sources of the Blue Nile were to be found here.
The remainder of the continent remained largely speculative though D Anville rarely lets his imagination get the upper hand. He does however follow the well-established Ptolemaic model laid down in the Geographica regarding the sources of the White Nile – here seen as two lakes at the base of the semi-apocryphal Mountains of the Moon. However, he also presents a curious network of interconnected rivers extending westward from the confused course of the White Nile following the popular 18th century speculation that the Nile may be connected to the Niger. To his credit Anville does not advocate this and offers no true commerce between the two river systems.
Lake Malawi, here identified as Maravi, appears in a long thin embryonic state that, though it had not yet been \\\'discovered,\\\' is remarkably accurate to form. Lake Malawi was not officially discovered until Portuguese trader Candido Jose da Costa Cardoso stumbled upon it in 1849 – one hundred years following Anvilles presentation of the lake here. Anvilles inclusion of Lake Malawi is most likely a prescient interpretation of indigenous reports brought to Europe by 17th century Portuguese traders. Its form would be followed by subsequent cartographers well into the mid-19th century when the explorations of John Hanning Speke, David Livingstone, Richard Francis Burton and others would at last yield a detailed study of Africas interior.
Bowen was a print and map-seller by trade as well as engraver to both George II and Louis XV of France. From 1714 onwards, he worked in London and was the both architect and creator of some of the most intriguing and appealing maps of that era. One of his long-term plans was to publish a complete atlas of English county maps. It proved to be such an enormous project, Bowen decided to combine the skills (and no doubt pool knowledge and contacts) of fellow mapmaker, Thomas Kitchin.
With the atlas in mind, they began to publish individual maps from 1748 which served as a practical way to advertise their forthcoming collection.Working together like this, they eventually published the appropriately named, The Large English Atlas in around 1760. The maps were indeed the largest county maps of the age, some being around 20in x 27in (510mm x 695mm). The maps themselves featured detailed descriptions in small blocks of text: county towns, historical notes, notable events etc, carefully filling any voids or quiet areas on the maps, and resulting in a stunning montage of topographically and historically fascinating pieces.
A reduced version of The Large English Atlas, The Royal English Atlas, was published later, around 1764. Maps from this work, though very similar in detail to the older version, are significantly rarer now, suggesting that fewer were produced due to lack of interest.
Bowens name is now frequently associated with a collection of small road maps, or strip maps published around 1720. Bowen worked with partner John Owen on a pocket-sized road atlas entitled: Britannia Depicta. Owen & Bowen developed these delightful strip maps from John Ogilby\\\'s master work of 1675: reduced in size and embellished with text giving local details, thus providing one of the first practical travelling atlases. The pages were printed double sided so it was light, required less paper to make and could easily fit in a pocket or saddle-bag to accompany the traveller.
Emanuel Bowens son, Thomas, also produced some beautiful maps. He is known to have helped his father as a youngster, and no doubt acquired some useful skills in the process. As with many other mapmakers of the time, despite their apparent success in the trade, both Emanuel and son Thomas died in poverty and relative obscurity. They did, however leave behind them an remarkable portfolio of both large and small, incredibly detailed and crafted maps and are certainly not obscure today.
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What is an Antique Map
The word Antique in the traditional sense refers to an item that is more than a hundred years old. In the past maps were sold in two forms, as a single sheet (broadsheet) or bound in an atlas or book. The majority of antique maps for sale today come from books or atlases and have survived due to the protection offered by the hardback covers.
When considering a purchaseThe first thing to determine when staring a collection or purchasing an item, is what is important to you. Most collectors prefer to build their collections around a theme. You may decide to collect maps from one region or country, charting its development through time. Similarly you could collect maps of one particular period in time, by type (i.e. sea or celestial charts) or by cartographer. The collector might also want to consider the theme of cartographical misconceptions such as California as an island or Australia as Terra Australis or the Great Southern Land.
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