Thursday, 31 May 2012

Old Historical Map of Japan - 19th Century

Decorative 19th Century Map of Japan and Korea by Rapkin - Tallis





















'Japan and Corea' drawn and engraved by John Rapkin for John Tallis and Co. From The Chinese Empire Illustrated circa 1858. Vignettes include Yeodo, a state Barge and Koreans.

John Rapkin (fl. 1835-65)

A nineteenth century map maker and engraver, best known for his work on the Illustrated Atlas of the World 1849-53 for John Tallis and Co. noted for their beautifully decorative borders and later re-issued by the London Printing and Publishing Co. London and New York.

See the map here - old map of Japan by Rapkin Tallis

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Antique 16th Century Maps by Sebastian Munster

A cartographer who had the widest influence in spreading geographical knowledge throughout Europe in the middle years of the 16th century. His Cosmographia, issued in 1544, contained not only the latest maps and views of well-known cities, but also included an encyclopaedic amount of detail about of detail about the known and unknown world and undoubtedly must have been one of the most widely read books of its time, with nearly forty editions in six languages.
















 Münster wrote the Dictionarium Trilingue in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew and Mappa Europae in 1536. In 1537 he published a Hebrew Gospel of Matthew which he had obtained from Spanish Jews he had converted. In 1540 he published a Latin edition of Ptolemy's Geographia with illustrations. The 1550 edition contains cities, portraits, and costumes. These editions, printed in Germany, are the most valued of the Cosmographias.

India by Sebastian Munster circa 1540-1552

















See Sebastian Munster's maps here 
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Friday, 9 March 2012

Antique Map of Japan by Colton dated 1856 

  




























Colton's map of Japan. Like most of Colton's Asia maps, this map was derived from an earlier wall map of the world produced by Colton and D. Griffing Johnson. Compiled from the work of Siebold and from the 1850 U.S. Japan Expedition (Perry), this map covers the Japanese Islands from Kiusiu north to Yesso (Hokkaido).Inset details include Hokkaido or Yesso and the Japanese Kuriles and the Bay of Nagasaki. This map influenced other contemporary cartographers such as Johnson.
This map also identifies various cities, towns, rivers, capes, mountains, and an assortment of additional topographical details. Map is hand colored in pink, green, yellow and blue pastels to define provincial and state boundaries. Surrounded by Colton's typical spiral motif border. Dated and copyrighted to J. H. Colton, 1855. Published from Colton's 172 William Street Office in New York City. Issued as page no. 29 in volume 2 of Colton's 1856 Atlas of the World.

 Other antique maps of Japan

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Friday, 18 November 2011

Old Maps of Oxfordshire

The county of Oxfordshire and the city of Oxford are well recorded by the map makers of the 18th and 19th century.  Variations in style by the cartographers, engravers and artists enrich the depiction of old maps of old maps of Oxfordshire.

Robert Morden's old map of Oxfordshire was initially produced in the latter part of the 17th century and appeared in a number of subsequent 18th century editions.  It has a pleasing clarity and  a characteristic decorative title cartouche.


Old map of Oxfordshire by Robert Morden circa 1753

Another 100 years on and print making was revolutionised by the introduction of mild steel which replaced the much more expensive copper as a material for engraving.  This is illustrated in the old map of Oxfordshire by Archibald Fullarton.  A much smaller map than that of Robert Morden, iit benefits from the fine lines and detail of steel plate engraving and includes an attractive vignette of the city of Oxford.


19th century old map of Oxfordshire by Archibald Fullarton

Shortly after Fullarton produced his maps, Thomas Moule produced the last decorative atlas depicting the English Counties.  Moule was especially interested on heraldry, and consequently his county maps were decorated with many of the relevant coats of arms relating to each county and their prominent families.  Moule's maps were mainly produced by two engravers, John Dower and W. Schmollenger.



19th century map of Oxfordshire by Moule dated circa 1850

 Thomas Moule's Maps were included in many publication,s including Moule's English County Maps and Barclay's English Dictionary. Not only did these beautiful maps benefit from the introduction of  heraldic elements, the engravers embellished them with highly decorative borders and related topographical vignettes.









Original 19th century old city map of Oxford by Moule c.1850



Within each publication was also a  selection of antique city maps and old town plans. These plans benefited from even more heraldic content as well as detailed street plans with significant buildings also annotated.  A good example of this is the old map of Oxford by Moule, with no fewer than 15 coats of arms ant two vignettes of Oxford.





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Thursday, 10 March 2011

Thomas Buttersworth Jnr - Marine Painting



Original oil on canvas by Thomas Buttersworth

British Frigate and other boats off the Mediterranean Coast, signed. Fortified tower with a Christian cross, in the background, smaller French ship to left, possibly Algeria? 17.75 x 24 " oil on canvas

Thomas Buttersworth Jnr (5 May 1768 – November 1842)
A seaman during the Napoleonic wars period, became a maritime painter producing works to commission, and was little exhibited during his lifetime. He was born on the Isle of Wight, England. He enlisted in the Royal Navy in London in 1795, and served on HMS Caroline during the wars with France, then was invalided home from Minorca in 1800.

The National Maritime Museum in London has 27 watercolours by him, several of which are mounted on sheets from 18th century, printed signal and muster books.

Other antique marine and maritime oil paintings

Thursday, 24 February 2011

Antique Maps of Surrey for Sale



This 18th century map of Surrey by Antonio Zatta is hand coloured and very detailed.

Engraved by Pitteri and drawn by Zuliani it was published in 1779 by Antonio Zatta in Atlante Novissimo.

Full details: Antique map of Surrey by Zatta





Antonio Zatta:

A Venitian cartographer who completed his best known publication Atlante Novissimo by 1785, this comprised of 218 maps including provincial maps of Europe and although he never produced an atlas of British county maps it did include Essex, Kent, Middlesex and Surrey as well as regions of Ireland and Scotland.

He also produced decorative maps after Captain Cook (Austrailia and New Zealand) and a twelve sheet sectional version of Mitchell's large-scale map of the USA, 1755. A characteristic of Zatta's maps are the decorative title cartouches. Also produced Nuovo atlante in 1799. Other cartographers work which he interpreted include Robert de Vaugondy and Bellin.

Other antique maps of Surrey