A New Map of TARTARY

     This map by John Speed was published in 1676, by Basset and Chiswell of London.   The first state was published in 1626 , in cooperation with George Humble.   It is a map of what was called Tartary.  This toponym was used starting in the Fourteenth  Century.   The blanket term was used by Europeans for the block North from the Caspian Sea to the Barents Sea,  East from the Barents to the Strait of Anian (Bering Strait),  South to the Yellow Sea,  and back  West with some areas  South to the Caspian. 

   In the upper right corner, the map shows a glimpse of North America.   The Kamchatka Peninsula and the Yellow (Huang He) River are not charted on the map, and Korea (Corea) is displayed as an  island.   A branch of the Great Wall of China is clear,  and appears to mimic the path through the Qin Dynasty.   Speed didn't do much of the survey work himself,  but rather compiled and adapted work of others.   "I have chiefly sought to give satisfaction to all."   There are many aspects taken from Mercator's map of Tartary.  There are numerous notations of areas no longer viable,  perhaps named for the environs or indigenous people located there at the time.  The handsomely decorated borders uniquely illustrate some  of the people and  places in time.  

     John Speed (1552-1629),  was born in Farndon, England.   John was a tailor originally under his father's tutelage in the guild.   In 1598,  he was granted a room at the Custom House under a full -time scholarship to do research under Queen Elizabeth.   In 1611 and 1612  he published the atlas,  "The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine."   It was the first atlas of individual county maps in England and Wales -  a series of  beautifully decorative maps like this one.

   This map of the Volga River was published circa 1665 as part of Joan Bleau's  "Atlas Major."  Bleau's atlas was the largest and most expensive of its time with 594 maps and 3,368 pages of text, encompassing the whole world as it was known then.   It was translated from Latin into Dutch, English, German, French and Spanish.   This particular version is in Spanish, text on verso, which makes it very rare.  The Spanish atlases were produced sporadically over the course of possibly 15 years, and in limited numbers.  They also weren't numbered which makes dating them difficult if not impossible.

     Adamo Oleario or Adam Olearius (1599-1671)  was a German author.  He studied theology, math, astronomy and geography at the University of Leipzig.  Commissioned by Frederick  III  in 1633,  Adamo took part in missions to Russia and Persia to negotiate more direct travel routes for silk exports

to Europe.  It was during these endeavors that he gained the knowledge of the geography to chart this map.  He was one of the first to do so of this area in a commercial production format. 

     Joan Bleau (1596-1673) was born son of William Bleau (1571-1638).  William is probably most noted for his "Novis Totius Terrarum Orbis,"  1606 map of the world as well as compilations for future publications.  Although William's 1606 map wasn't used in Joan's Atlas Major, probably because of some of its dated geography, it is sought after to this day for its form as well as rarity.   It is one of the most beautifully decorated maps ever struck.  With William's passing in 1638,  sons Joan and Cornelis took over the business and scaled it into levels never seen before in mapmaking although Cornelis's namesake was not apparent past 1645.

     On February 23, 1672,  a fire ripped through the Bleau printing house, destroying the vast majority of plates and inventory.  One year later, Joan Bleau died,  and for all intents and purposes, so did the business.   Most of  the remaining inventory was auctioned off at that point with the rest sold in 1695 at public auction.

The content in this paragraph adds to the rarity of this map.  It was supposed to be published again in a future atlas.  

    This incredibly detailed map is originally by Gilles and Didier Robert de Vaugondy.   Gilles and his son Didier lived (1688-1766) and (1723-1786) respectively.  The de Vaugondys were descendants of the Nicolas Sanson family through Pierre Sanson, the grandson of Nicolas.  Nicolas Sanson was one of the greatest French cartographers of his time,  serving under two Kings giving geography lessons to King Louis XII and King Louis XIV.  

    In 1692,  Hubert Jailot used Sanson's plates to procure his "Atlas Nouveau."   The Vougondys acquired those plates  after Jailot's death.  The plate for this map was used in de Vaugondy's  "Atlas Universel,"  in 1757.   The atlas  antiquated the marginalized longitude and latitude geographical coordinates based on prior astronomy constellations with more accurate actual geological surveys.  This 1778 map was published by Paolo Santini (1729-1793), a Venetian engraver known for his religious  and cartographic engravings.  This map is almost 250 years old and is in pristine condition.

    Exploration of this area began in the 15th  Century,  first by the Portuguese who called it the Indies reflective of India. The area was an important source of spices,  cotton and indigo advanced by companies like the British and Dutch East India Companies.  The New World or East Indies  was thought to be the  Easternmost part of the  West  Indies by Christopher Columbus.  That "subtle" inaccuracy of the distance between Europe and Asia prompted the differentiation between  the East and West Indies.  Of course, Columbus did not arrive at the Eastern shores of North America  until 1492.  I know this because my first grade teacher told me this in 1971.  I wouldn't forget because I then lived in Lewiston, NY,  Zip code 14092 which she made synonymous with Columbus reaching America.  REF Miss Puess.

      A magnificent sea chart of the third largest and the youngest of the major oceans in the world.  The map was published by French cartographer Jacques  Nicholas Bellin in 1747.  This all inclusive map is everything one would expect from an overview of the Indian Ocean.  The epicenter of oceanic commerce and even earlier, the beginnings of  maritime trade rivaling the Mediterranean in perspective time frames. These two micro globalizations operated independently of each other starting some 5,000 years ago long before the age of exploration.  The Atlantic and the Pacific were barriers of the unknown during this period or Terra Incognita, a term seen first in Ptolemy's Geography C. 150 meaning regions that have not been documented.  It is suggested that African crops such as sorghum, millet, cowpea and hyacinth bean found their way to India during the Indus Civilization 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE.  It is during latter of this period Gujarati merchants in their quest to trade African products such as ivory, tortoise shells and even slaves became the first explorers of the Indian Ocean.  Of course this 1747 map bears witness to a different scale and aggregate of maritime trade altogether. 

      The East India Company or the EIC during this time was one of the biggest companies in the world.  It employed 250,000 soldiers alone just to protect its assets. The AIC was spawn from a voyage of Sir Frances Drake in 1577.  Sir Drake set sail to plunder Spanish settlements in South America for which he accomplished and on his return trip ported in the Moluccas, otherwise known as the Spice Islands.  Drake met with Sultan Babullah and purchased a large quantity of spices to bring back to England not knowing how that investment would really go over.  The spices Drake brought back sold for a 5,000 times profit.

      The Dutch East India Company or the VOC  (Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie) employed almost a million people between1602 and 1796 with over 4,700 ships making it the largest company of the world at its time. The VOC was the brainchild of James Lancaster who commanded the first voyage in 1601.  The VOC was the first company in history to issue stock with some returns as high as 40%.  The spice trade became so influential that it unknowingly helped introduce to the idea of want affordability over just necessity to the general population which fuels and maintains so many more of the world's commercial avenues today. 

     This large map of the most south eastern part of continental Russia was issued by Jacques Nicolas Bellin in 1760.   It was engraved by J. Laurent.   Although Bellin was probably the most productive map publisher of his time, there is not much that I can find about J. Laurent, noted as Dresse' et Gravee' on the map.  This issue is on heavier laid paper which seems to be less common than lighter paper variety. 

      This amazing peninsula is flanked by the Sea of Okhotsk and the Pacific Ocean.  Written history maintains Russian explorer Ivan Moskvitin  reached the area via the Sea of Okhotsk in 1639.  It seems the welcoming committee of the aggressive indigenous Koryak people were not impressed with him and his staff's presence.  Mr. Moskvitin unreluctantly left and the Russians wouldn't return until 1651.  A smallpox epidemic hit the region in 1768-1769 that decimated the native population.  The remaining 1900 or so that survived adopted Russian Customs and intermarriage.  Ivan Yevreinov  was the first to map Kamchatka and the Kurils in 1720.   In 1724 Vitus Bering , commissioned by Peter the Great,  bore Russia's first naval scientific exploration called the First Kamchatka Expedition.  This endeavor confirmed the existence of the  body of water between Asia and America now known as the Bering Strait.  In light of the two voyages commissioned by the Tsardom of Russia , Bering has a number of islands and waterways dedicated to him. 

      The Kamchatka Peninsula sits at the junction of a triple  intersection between the North American, Pacific and Eurasian plates and also part of the Okhostk Block which is also pressuring the  Eurasian Plate and borders on the Bering Block  which defines the area north of the Aleutians.  Something has to give and it did.  Starting about 2.5 million years ago in the late Pliocene is when most believe this peninsula began building with the help of the some 68 volcanos and numerous vents on and in the surrounding area rightfully named "The Ring of Fire".  The two mountain ranges, the Eastern Range and the Middle Range, climb to 7,792 feet.  Although other peninsulas have higher elevations I don't think this one can be beat per capita area squared especially since the other one's in most occasions were a product of erosion diminishing while this one is still developing.  The geography, wildlife and fauna in this area are special.  One would hope it stays that way, at least to some extent.  

    This nicely-detailed chart, with notations, was published in Paris (1758) by Jacques Nicolas Bellin.  What is nice about this map is that it puts into easy perspective the North American northeast coast relative to part of the Asian Peninsula, or what is now  Russia. It embraces how little was charted in the Pacific West.  The map on the Russian side seemingly starts at the Kolyma River and travels  East around Tschutski, and then travels South to Kamchatka and its surrounding islands.   Across the North of the Atlantic Ocean on the American side the map details the Great Lakes and New France (Canada) to the mouth of the Saint Lawrence River.   Although this map was published after Bering and Chirikov's Great Northern Expedition of the region,  it doesn't represent the expedition's discoveries and accurate topographical compilations.  Those discoveries took some time to be published because the commissioner Peter the Great wouldn't allow it for almost a decade. 

      The notations on this map are unique in that I have not seen allocations like these on a 18th century map before. At the middle-most bottom of the page there is reference to earlier explorers and their place of exploration time frames.  Entree' de Jean de Fuca 1592, and Entree' de Martin d'Aguilar 1603, as noted on the map.  Jean de Fuca, born Ioannis Phokas on the Greek Ionian Island of Cefalonia (1536), is best known for his exploration of the Strait of Anian, now known as the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State.  His passing was at his place of birth in 1602.  Martin Aguilar was a Spanish explorer who was one of the first to record the coast of what is now Oregon.  Two ships set out in 1602 with one ship Tres Reyes commanded by Aguilar and the other by Sebastian Vizcaino.  Their ships were separated during a storm and it is reported Vizcaino went as far as the Oregon- California border while it is thought that Aguilar continued to Coos Bay.   He turned back to Mexico because scurvy was impairing his crew.   No organized or commissioned exploration of the coast took place for nearly another 150 years.

      There are a number of other notations on this map that lingually are alluding me.  I would say my 18th century French would be rusty if it weren't nonexistent.

     This North Pacific sea chart of America and Russia was published in London by  Alexander Hogg in 1790.  It is a detailed account of Captian Cooks third exploration in the years 1778 and 1779.  Alexander was born in Polwarth, Berwickshire, a village in Scotland in 1756.  When Alexander was a young man in his early twenties,  it is recorded that he went to Essex, England to help out  his uncle Alex Hume at his farm.  Mr. Hume was a purser to Cook on one of his travels.  Alexander was of AB (Able Seamen status) and eventually becoming a purser to the captain aboard the H.M.S Resolution, Cooks third and final voyage (July 12, 1776- October 4, 1780.)  The ship left the port city of Plymouth England and then ventured to Cape Town, South Africa; Tenerife (The largest and most populated of the Canary Islands), the Hawaiian Islands and eventually up the North American Coast to the Bering Strait.  Although the most interest of this voyage was to seek a "Northwest Passage" another populist contingency appealed to the masses.  A young man named Omai was to be brought back to his home in the Society Islands. Omai's residence was restored. This map represents Cook's third voyage.  A humanitarian effort indeed...one could suppose.

      The Asian coastline north on this map starts in the East Siberian Sea, extends around the Chukchi Peninsula, south down the Bering Sea and the Gulf of Anadyr and continues following the entire coast of Kamchatka the Sea of Okhotsk.  Crossing the pond, the map covers the wester coast of Alaska from the Seaward Peninsula to Mt. Fairweather just outside British Columbia.  This map was a culmination of Cook's discoveries in addition to what was already charted as well as the British Admiralty and Russian manuscript maps.  The shaded coastlines are representative of Cook's surveys and features the Bering Strait at the center.  The most accurate map of this area at is time.

      The Bering Strait at its deepest is about 165 feet and is approximately 52 miles wide at its minimum. In the winter there is currently a 2.5 mile swath of ice which makes makes both coasts accessible to each other. Better hurry up, the hypothetical bridge is there. Although not so much hypothetical anymore, all of the continents were as one up to  some 135 million years ago, but the migratory ramifications of the strait are very interesting whether it be Jurassic, Neolithic or anytime in between. 

This map is by Alexander Hogg a active London publisher under the King's Arms  on Paterson Row from1778-1824, best know for his journals related to captain James Cook. This map is  of the Society Islands  in the south pacific.  It encompasses  discoveries  of voyages  of captains Byron, Wallis, Carteret and Cook . I t depicts the Island of Tahiti (Otaheite) and Bora Bora ((Bolabola) at the time.  This map was made in London in 1770.   James Cook joined the British Navy in 1755 and was active in the Seven Years  War. He mapped much of the St. Lawrence River during the seige of Quebec. This aspect led to his commission in 1766 as commander of  HM Bark Endeavor for the first of three Pacific Voyages. He mapped  voyages from New Zealand  to Hawaii  in the Pacific  not previously done. He also surveyed and recorded islands on European maps for the first time.  On Cooks 3rd and final voyage he commanded the HMS Resolution part of which he was to return Omai, a reserve passenger to Tahiti, although the trip'.s main goal was  to locate a Northwest Passage  around the American continent. After dropping  Omai at Tahiti Cook traveled north and became the first European  in contact with  people of the Hawaiian Islands in1778 calling them the Sandwich Islands  after the fourth Earl of Sandwich.  From there Captain Cook sailed north  to Alta California  and what is now the Oregon coast.  Further he sailed past the Strait of Juan de Fuca and entered Nootka Sound on Vancouver Island. Cook's two ships remained in Nootka Sound  from March 29 till April 28 1778  in what was called Resolution Cove at the south end of Bligh Island.  After sailing around the archipelago of what is now Hawaii for some eight weeks Cook returned to Kealakeua Bay.  His arrival coincided with the Hawaiin harvest.  After a months stay Cook attempted  to resume his quest for the North West Passage but shortly after leaving Hawaii

the Resolution's mast broke, returning him back to Kealakekua Bay for repairs.  On February 14, 1779 

Cook tried to take the king  ali'nui  away but  one of Kalani'opu'u's wives Kanekapolei suppressed their progress toward the boats and Cook was struck on the head by villagers and then stabbed to death by Nuaa, one of the king's attendants.

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      This circa 1851 steel engraved map is by John Tallis & company.  A highly detailed map of Japan and Korea engraved by J. Ripken.  The vignettes are by H. Warren and J. H. Kermot.  The map was engraved for  "The Ilustrated Atlas" published from 1849- 1853  and edited by R. Montgomery Martin."  The publication  is considered the last of the truly decorative cartographic atlases.  This map was also featured in Tallis and Martin's  "Modern History of the World, Geographical, Political, Commercial & Statistical" in 1851.