Tag Archives: vintage maps

Richard Wagner’s Bayern

Topograpahic Maps of Bayern / Bavaria – Southern and Northern Part, 1862 and 1863.

At the time this map was first printed, Bavaria was a kingdom established after the fall of the Holy Roman Empire and remained an independent monarchy until 1866. During its independence, Bavaria quickly became a centre of art and culture. One of the most important figures in Bavarian (and German) cultural life of that era was the composer Richard Wagner. He brought new ideas into the art of opera and is also known for writing both the music and the lyrics for all his work. Wagner adapted stories from German history into his work. The German mythology and the origins of the German nation were themes elaborated on in a series of four operas called the Ring of the Nibelung. Due to the themes he used, Wagner’s work became an instrument of Nazi propaganda in the 1930s. Large parts of Wagner’s work also outline Scandinavian mythology.

The life of this German composer is fully described in the biography: “Richard Wagner: A Life in Music” by Martin Goeck.

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The Eddystone Lighthouse Story

Portolan Map Covering the Atlantic Ocean by the English, French, Spanish and Portugese Coastline, 1698. This map oriented to the East.

Because of the colonies in Africa, Asia and America, the intensity of transatlantic trade had increased considerably by the end of the 17th century. This made the coastline of England, France, Spain and Portugal very busy due to the maritime traffic. The development of seafaring brought the need for new tools in navigation and safety at sea. That is why many lighthouses were built in this area.

The first recorded instance of an offshore lighthouse was in 1698, which was built on Eddystone Rocks, located about 14 kilometres offshore from the major harbour of Plymouth. The rocks are also marked on this map. There is a moving story of Mr Henry Winstanley connected to this lighthouse. Winstanley was a man with many interests such as mechanics or mathematics. He became a merchant and purchased five ships for such entrepreneurial activities. After two of the ships were wrecked on Eddystone Rocks, Winstanley complained, claiming that ships should be protected from such dangerous rocks, but nothing was done as the reef was considered impossible to mark. As a result, he decided to build a lighthouse himself, which took him two years to finish. He had to face unexpected obstacles during the construction. As this was in the period when England was at war with France, he was taken captive by a French privateer while on the construction site and taken to France. The construction had been destroyed. However, the French King Louis XIV ordered his immediate release, stating: “France is at war with England, not with humanity”. Winstanley returned to the Eddystone reef and finished the construction in 1698. He remained as the lighthouse keeper for the next five years. During the time he ran the lighthouse, no ships were wrecked on Eddystone rock. He died in the lighthouse in 1703 during a particularly strong storm.

For the full story, read “Henry Winstanley and the Eddystone Lighthouse” by Adam Hart-Davis or “Fearless” by Elvira Woodruf.

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The Canamunt and the Canavall – Majorca’s Romeo and Juliet Story

Map of the Balearic Islands, 1639.

The 17th century was a very turbulent period in the history of the islands. The islanders had to face frequent attacks from Berber and Turkish pirates. In Palma, Majorca’s capital, daily life was strongly influenced by the ongoing conflict between the two noble families, which divided the city into two hostile territories – the Canamunt and the Canavall. The entire story is strikingly reminiscent of Shakespeare’s tragedy Romeo and Juliet, which was released around the same time. Just like with the Montagues and the Capulets, Nicolau Rossinyol loved Elisabet Anglada, but her family did not approve. The Rossinyols took offence and a battle followed, which resulted into the territory being divided between the two clans. The confrontations sustained over time. In the next phase, alliances were made between the clans and gangs of bandits to strengthen their position and the clashes became more violent. In total, the conflict lasted almost 70 years between 1598 and 1666; however, the banditry persisted until the War of Spanish Succession. Every September 4th, a battle with water guns between the Canamunt and Canavall sides takes place in Palma de Majorca in commemoration of the two opposing sides.

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Queen Nanny – the Moroon Movement in Jamaica

Map of the Central America, 1720.

In the 18th century, colonialism and its consequences had fully hit the West Indies with the British, the Dutch, the Spanish and the French carving up the territories in the Caribbean between themselves. Noteworthy events took place in Jamaica around the time this map was released. Between 1655 and 1670, the British took over the control of the island from the Spanish. In this transition period, many former slaves escaped slavery and established free communities inland. They gradually took control over large areas of the Jamaican inland and organised regular raids on the plantations. Conflicts with the British administration followed, known as the First and Second Maroon wars. One of the leaders of the Maroon movement was Queen Nanny. She was born in what is today Ghana, West Africa. After being sold as a slave, she was transported to Jamaica to work on a sugarcane plantation, which was a booming industry in the West Indies around that time. After escaping from the plantation, she founded a Maroon settlement in the mountains called Nanny Town. She was responsible for successfully defending the settlement against the British Army. Thus, she became one of the earliest leaders of slave resistance in the West Indies.

To learn more about Queen Nanny, read Karla Gottlieb’s: “The Mother of Us All: A History of Queen Nanny, Leader of the Windward Jamaican Maroons”.

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17th Century – Exploration of Australia

Map of the World, 1680.

The map shows that there were still many parts of the world unexplored in 1680. These were some of the islands in the Arctic Ocean (back then called Oceanus Septentrionalis – The Northern Ocean, named after the seven stars of the Big Plough star constellation); also Alaska, Antarctica, Australia and New Zealand.

The most important explorations of Australia took place in the 17th century. The first documented European landing on Australia was in 1606 by the Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon. Ships from the Dutch East India Company continued to explore the Australian coastline over the following years. In the 1640s, the Dutch captain Abel Tasman set out on two voyages; during the first voyage he explored and mapped the Northern coast of the continent that he named New Holland. It is under this name that Australia is shown on this map. During his second voyage, Tasman explored Tasmania (Van Diemen’s Land) and New Zealand. The last parts of Australia’s coastline were those most densely populated today: New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.

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The Special Status of the Isle of Man

Map of the Ilse of Man and the Adjoining Coasts of of Wales, England and Scotland, 1740.

This map is oriented to the west at the top of the map. Until today, the Isle of Man has enjoyed a special relationship with Great Britain. It is not part of the United Kingdom nor is it part of the European Union. Officially, it is a Crown dependency. The Lord of Mann was the titular ruler of the island until 1765, i.e. 25 years after this map was released. In 1765, the Government of the Kingdom of Great Britain purchased the rights of the ruling Atholl family as Lords of Mann including the customs revenues of the Island for the sum of £70,000. Today, the Queen still holds the title Lord of Mann.

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The Maltese Falcon Story

Map of Malta and Gozo, 1734.

Malta and Gozo were ruled by the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem between 1530 and 1798. After being expelled from its previous base in Rhodes, the Order was given Malta and Gozo together with the North-African town of Tripoli in 1530 as a gift by Emperor Charles V., the King of Sicily. In exchange, the Order had to follow conditions laid down by the King and pay an annual fee of a single Maltese falcon. This tradition persisted throughout the whole period of Malta under the Order of Saint John.

An illustrated book “Knights of Malta, 1523-1798” by Reuben Cohen describes the full history of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem and its influence on European events.

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Hevelius and His Research of the Moon’s Surface

Map of the Surface of the Moon, 1710.

Published under the official title: Tabula Selenographica. Selenography is a scientific discipline focused on the mapping of the Moon’s surface. This map from the early 18th century is derived from the works of two scientists who stood at the beginning of the modern-era survey of the Moon: Giovanni Battista Riccioli (1598-1671), an Italian astronomer who established a system of lunar nomenclature still used today, and the German-Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius (1611-1687).

Hevelius (in Polish Jan Heweliusz), originally from Gdansk and the son of wealthy brewers, was given an excellent education at the University of Leiden. After finishing his studies, he travelled Europe before returning to his hometown where he worked in the city administration. Besides his civil service, he also focused on astronomy, built his private observatory, and studied the heavens passionately. The Moon became his main interest; in 1647, his first work on lunar topography, called “Selenography”, was published, which gave this scientific discipline its name.

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Invention of a Chronometer – a Big Progress in Sea Navigation

Nautical Map of the Atlantic Ocean by the Coast of Spain, Portugal, Gibraltar and Morocco, 1760

This is a nice example of what are known as portolan charts – navigational maps based on compass directions and estimated distances observed by captains at sea. Portolan maps have one main compass rose in the middle with 16 other compass roses located in a circle around the main rose.

The Age of Discovery peaked with James Cook and his famous voyages in the second half of the 18th century. The biggest problem in sea navigation was solved around this time when the marine chronometer invented by John Harrison enabled the measurement of accurate time and, therefore, accurate longitude at sea. Whereas latitude could be easily determined at sea by measuring the sun’s angle at noon, the measurement of longitude remained a major problem until the 1760s. With the invention of the chronometer, it was possible to accurately measure the time of a known fixed location, for example, Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). Knowing GMT at local noon allows a navigator to use the time difference between the ship’s position and the Greenwich Meridian to determine the ship’s longitude.

The Royal Greenwich Observatory displays a collection of the first chronometers invented by John Harrison. His life-story is narrated by Kathryn Lasky in her children’s book “The man who made time travel”.

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Denmark and Its Colonies in 1870s

Map of Denmark and Its Colonies at That Time, 1872

In 1872 when this map was first printed, Denmark was recovering from the Schleswig wars, in which Schleswig-Holstein, now a German federal state, gained full independence from Denmark. Apart from Denmark and Schleswig-Holstein, the map shows the Danish Colonial Empire at that time: The Danish West Indies (now the United States Virgin Islands) in the Caribbean, Iceland (gained independence in 1944), Greenland and the Faroe Islands. The latter two countries listed remain part of the Kingdom of Denmark; however, full independence has been granted to both.

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