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Description

Decorative 2-sheet map of the Mediterranean and North Africa, published by Richard Blome.

The map extends from the Morocco and the Straits of Gibralter to Cyprus and the Red Sea, centered on Sicily and Malta. Includes many sailing ships, sea monsters, lions, elephants, ostriches, etc. Perhaps the earliest map of the region to appear in an English atlas.

At the time of publication Tangier was a British possession, given to Charles II as part of the dowry when he married Catherine of Braganza, the Portuguese Infanta in 1662. Charles planned to make the town the fortress/gatekeeper to the Mediterranean, the role Gibraltar later took on. Unfortunately, the British were driven from Tangier in 1684.

Along the top of the map is a line of 36 armorials, testament to Blome's skill at raising money by subscription. Among the names are James Compton, 3rd Earl of Northampton and Lord Lieutenant of Warwickshire, and Elias Ashmole, whose bequest of books and manuscripts formed the basis of the Ashmolean Museum.

The map was engraved by Francis Lamb for Blome's Geographical Description of the World in Four Parts was the first English Atlas of the the World engraved and published in England. This map was engraved by Francis Lamb.

Condition Description
Several printer's creases at top right.