1793 Tomás López Map of the Balearic Islands: Ibiza, Majorca, Minorca

A scarce 1793 separate issue map of the Balearic Islands of Ibiza, Majorca, and Minorca by the Spanish cartographer Tomás López de Vargas Machuca. This map emerged early in the French Revolutionary Wars (1792 - 1802) when the Balearics became increasingly significant as a maritime outpost in the heavily contested western Mediterranean.

A Closer Look

The map has an unusual elongated format centered on Majorca (Mallorca). There are insets of the town of Ibiza (Iviza) and Puerto Pi (Majorca), both with depth soundings. The title cartouche bearing a ruined tower, probably the Sa Dragonera watch tower, appears in the lower right. In the lower left, a note enumerates the cartographic sources consulted in the preparation of this map. The general representation of the Balearic archipelago is based on Vicente Tofiño's chart. For the interior of Mallorca, reference was made to the works of Francisco Garma and Juan de Landaeta, as well as to the map of the bays of Pollensa and Alcudia. The mapping of Menorca's interior draws upon the surveys of Lempiere (Lempriere?), Faden, the Chevalier de Beaurain, and Nolin, supplemented by 'all the documents incorporated into a map of this island from 1780, with additional new corrections and augmentations.' For the interior of Ibiza, the map by José García Muñoz was utilized; for Cabrera, the survey of Tomás Vilajuana; and for Formentera, the manuscripts referenced by Tomás López in his 1782 publication.

Historical Context

In 1793, the Balearic Islands - Majorca, Minorca, Ibiza, and Formentera -were part of the Spanish Crown. They took on greater geopolitical significance during this period due to their strategic position in the western Mediterranean. At this time, much of Europe was enmeshed in the French Revolutionary Wars. Although Spain initially joined the First Coalition against Revolutionary France, its naval strength and coastal territories, including the Balearics, were under increasing pressure. Notably, Minorca had only recently been returned to Spanish control 10 years earlier in 1783, after nearly 70 years of intermittent British occupation. Tensions remained high as the British navy sought to reassert influence in the Mediterranean in the face of an increasingly hostile France and an increasingly unstable European mainland. Although the islands remained largely rural and agrarian, fortified ports like Mahón and Palma served as military and trade hubs. Despite being relatively peripheral to the mainland conflicts, the Balearics' proximity to major naval routes and shifting alliances made them a vital and contested maritime outpost.

Publication History and Census

This map was compiled by the great Spanish cartographer Tomás López and published in 1793 in Madrid. The present example is a separate issue, but this map was also found in López's Atlas Geografico de Espana, as evidenced by the plate number in the upper right. Rare to the market.