Barbary

Cartographer : - Gibson, John active 1750 - 1792

  • Date: - 1758
  • Size: - 4 1/2in x 3 1/4in (115mm x 83mm)
  • Ref#: - 31422
  • Condition: - (A+) Fine Condition

Description:
This beautifully hand coloured original copper-plate engraved antique map of the Barbary Coast, North Africa from Morocco to Egypt - a beautiful example of the art of miniature map making - was published by John Gibson in his 1758 edition of Atlas Minimus.
(Ref: M&B; Tooley)

General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: - Original
Colors used: - Yellow, green, blue, pink
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 4 1/2in x 3 1/4in (115mm x 83mm)
Plate size: - 4in x 2 3/4in (100mm x 70mm)
Margins: - Min 1/4in (5mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - None
Plate area: - None
Verso: - None

Background:
The term Barbary Coast or Berbery or Berber Coast, was the term Europeans used from the 16th to early 19th century to refer to much of the collective land of the Berber people.
The term Barbary Coast emphasizes the Berber coastal regions and cities throughout the middle and western coastal regions of North Africa – what is now modern nations of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya. The English term Barbary (and its European varieties: Barbaria, Berbérie, etc.) referred mainly to the entire Berber lands including non-coastal regions, deep into the African continent, as seen in European geographical and political maps published during the 17th–20th centuries.
The name derives from the Berber people of North Africa. In the West, the name commonly evoked the Barbary pirates and Barbary slave traders based on that coast—who attacked ships and coastal settlements in the Mediterranean Sea and eastern North Atlantic Ocean, and captured and traded slaves or goods from Europe, America and sub-Saharan Africa. These actions finally provoked the Barbary Wars of the early 19th century. The slaves and goods were being traded and sold throughout the Ottoman Empire or to the Europeans themselves.
Barbary was not always a unified political entity. From the 16th century onwards, it was divided into the political entities of the Regency of Algiers, Tunis, and Tripolitania (Tripoli). Major rulers petty monarchs during the times of the Barbary states\' plundering parties included the Pasha or Dey of Algiers, the Bey of Tunis and the Bey of Tripoli.
Before then, the territory was usually divided between Ifriqiya, Morocco, and a west-central Algerian state centered on Tlemcen or Tiaret. Powerful Berber dynasties such as the Almohads (12th century) and briefly thereafter the Hafsids, occasionally unified it for short periods. From a European perspective, Tripoli in modern-day Libya, was considered its capital or chief city—though Marrakesh in Morocco was the largest and most important Berber city at the time. Some saw Algiers in Algeria, or Tangiers in Morocco as the capital.
Purchase of Christian captives in the Barbary States.
The first United States military land action overseas, executed by the U.S. Marines and Navy, was the Battle of Derna, Tripoli, (a coastal town in modern eastern Libya) in April 1805. It formed part of an effort to destroy all of the Barbary pirates, to free American slaves in captivity, and to put an end to piracy acts between these warring tribes on the part of the Barbary states, which were themselves member states of the Ottoman Empire. The opening line of the Marines\' Hymn refers to this action: From the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli.... This was the first time the United States Marine Corps took part in offensive actions outside of the United States.
The word razzia is, via Italian and French, from Algerian Arabic ghaziya (غزية \"raiding\"), originally referring to slave raids conducted by Barbary pirates.
Gibson, John active 1750 - 1792
Gibson was an English cartographer, geographer, draughtsman and engraver. Recognized as an important late eighteenth-century British cartographer, a contemporary of Jacques-Nicolas Bellin and skilled engraver, spent most of his life in prison because of several debts, however, produced thousands of maps and its best-known work in 1758 was called the pocket atlas Atlas Minimus. He worked also for the Gentlemans Magazine for which engraved different decorative maps. He also published his own work in The Universal Magazine of Knowledge and Pleasure, The Universal Museum and The Universal Traveller.

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 purchase

The 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.
The subject is so wide that any would-be-collector has almost endless possibilities to find his own little niche within the field, and thereby build a rewarding collection.

Starting a collection & pricing

Pricing is based on a number of different factors, the most important of which is regional. In any series of maps the most valuable are usually the World Map and the America/North America. The World because it is usually the most decorative and America because it has the strongest regional market. Other factors that come into play re: price is rarity, age, size, historical importance, decorative value (colour) and overall condition and quality of paper it is printed on.
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About US

Classical Images was founded 1998 and has built an excellent reputation for supplying high quality original antiquarian maps, historical atlases, antique books and prints. We carry an extensive inventory of antiquarian collectibles from the 15th to 19th century. Our collection typically includes rare books and decorative antique maps and prints by renowned cartographers, authors and engravers. Specific items not listed may be sourced on request.
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