1780 Schley Map of Europe, Africa and Asia during the Biblical Era

Extremely Rare, Attractively Engraved Map of Europe, Africa and Asia.

This rare 1780 map of Europe, Northern Africa and Western Asia presents - with some notable exceptions - the parts of the world known to the Roman Empire during the Biblical period. Most of the place names are those which would have been familiar to Ptolemy, Pliny and Josephus. The geography shown is not ancient, however. Rather than being modeled after Ptolemy's mapping of the world known during the Roman era, the map reflects the geographical knowledge of the 18th century. Neither Nova Zemla nor Iceland, both shown here, were known to ancient geographers; and although distorted, both the Indian and Malay peninsulae are shown as they were understood after the discovery era. The mapmaker follows many of the early translators of Ptolemy in identifying the island of Taprobana as Sri Lanka. Similarly, Goa and Cambodia are marked and named on the map. Central Asia is labeled (libeled?) as the domain of cannibals and horse-eaters. The map was intended to accompany a book of Biblical geography, and to help the reader place the events of religious antiquity in the context of a modern, expanding world.

Publication History and Census

This map was engraved by Jacob van der Schley for Martinus de Bruyn's Bybelsche huis en zak-Atlas, an atlas of fifteen maps intended to accompany Johan Jacob Schmidt's 1776 Bybelsche Geögraphicus . The atlas was not produced until 1780 and was relegated to a small, solitary edition. Consequently all of the maps of the atlas are rare. OCLC shows only nine examples of the zak-Atlas in institutional collections. Only one example of this map appears in OCLC, catalogued as an anonymous work at Tilburg University.

Cartographer

Jacob van der Schley  (July 26, 1715 - February 12, 1779) was a Dutch engraver and draftsman based in Amsterdam whose work for the 18th-century book trade included a substantial body of maps, coastal charts, town plans, and topographical views. Born in Amsterdam, he studied from about the age of twelve under Bernard Picart (1673 - 1733), whose engraving style he subsequently imitated, and completed unfinished plates after his master's death. His principal cartographic contribution was to the Hague editions of Antoine François Prévost's (1697 - 1763) Histoire générale des voyages and its Dutch counterpart, Historische beschryving der reizen, published by Pieter de Hondt (1696 - 1764), also known as Pierre de Hondt. For these publications, he engraved maps after Jacques-Nicolas Bellin (1703 - 1772), translating geographical compilations into copperplate rather than undertaking original surveys. Surviving examples include a chart of the southern Atlantic published in 1747, a map of Madagascar dated 1747, and a map of Cartagena, Santa Marta, and Venezuela published about 1758. His plates frequently combine French and Dutch titles, and some identify his role with the inscription 'direxit', indicating supervision of their production rather than necessarily the personal engraving of every plate. Alongside this geographical work, Schley produced portraits, book illustrations, and vignettes; his memorial portrait of Picart, dated 1734, documents his continuing connection with his teacher's artistic legacy. He also taught the engraver and art dealer Philippus van der Schley (1724 - 1817). Schley died in Amsterdam in 1779.   Further Details...

Source

De Bruyn, Martinus Bybelsche huis en zak-AtlasAmsterdam, 1780.    

Condition

Very good condition; some marginal spotting, else excellent with original outline color.

References

OCLC 202465153.