1750 Schley Map of Ormus, Persian Gulf

Stunning map of an legendary Persian Gulf trade port.

I travelled next from the land of 'Oman to the land of Hurmuz. Hurmuz is a city on the sea-coast, and is also called Mughistan. Opposite it in the sea is New Hurmuz, and between them is a sea passage of three farsakhs. We came to New Hurmuz, which is an island whose city is called Jarawn. -Ibn Batutta

This is Schley's magnificent map of the island city of Hormuz. This strategically important Strait of Hormuz guards the entrance to the Persian Gulf. For centuries Hormuz had been an important stopping point in the shipping lanes from India to Arabia. In the course of its long history, Hormuz was, at various times, an independent state, part of the Arabia, part of Persia and subject to Portugal. Today it is part of Iran. Ormus is mentioned frequently in literature for its legendary wealth and beauty. It is named in the works of Milton, Coleridge, Mandeville, and Ibn Batutta, to name but a few.

Our map shows the island and the nearby Persian coast. Offers stunning detail of the city of Jerun, including orchards, the Palace of the King, the church of St. Lucia, various streets, and the great Fortress. No less than 16 sailing ships ply the waters. Surrounded by a stupendous decorative border with an architectural motif.
Engraved by Schley under the supervision of J. Bellin for issue as plate no. 31 in the c. 1750 edition of Provost's L`Histoire Generale des Voyages.

Cartographers

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...

Jacques-Nicolas Bellin (1703 - March 21, 1772) was one of the most important cartographers of the 18th century. With a career spanning some 50 years, Bellin is best understood as geographe de cabinet and transitional mapmaker spanning the gap between 18th and early-19th century cartographic styles. His long career as Hydrographer and Ingénieur Hydrographe at the French Dépôt des cartes et plans de la Marine resulted in hundreds of high quality nautical charts of practically everywhere in the world. A true child of the Enlightenment Era, Bellin's work focuses on function and accuracy tending in the process to be less decorative than the earlier 17th and 18th century cartographic work. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Bellin was always careful to cite his references and his scholarly corpus consists of over 1400 articles on geography prepared for Diderot's Encyclopedie. Bellin, despite his extraordinary success, may not have enjoyed his work, which is described as "long, unpleasant, and hard." In addition to numerous maps and charts published during his lifetime, many of Bellin's maps were updated (or not) and published posthumously. He was succeeded as Ingénieur Hydrographe by his student, also a prolific and influential cartographer, Rigobert Bonne.   Further Details...

Source

Prévost, A., Histoire Générale des Voyages, ou Nouvelle Collection de Toutes les Relations de Voyages par Mer et par Terre..., (Paris: Didot) 1746 - 1759, Supplements 1761 - 1801.    

Prévost's Histoire Générale des Voyages is a 15-volume compendium of travel literature initiated by Antoine François Prévost (Provost; 1697 - 1763) in 1746, intended as a universal history of exploration and geography. The initial publication, compiled from 1746 to 1759, spans 15 volumes and draws from a vast array of sources - travelers, explorers, missionaries, merchants, and diplomats - to present detailed narratives of significant global journeys. The work was initially published in Paris by Didot and offers ethnographic, political, religious, and natural observations about the peoples, cultures, flora, fauna, and geography. It is an ambitious attempt to organize knowledge about the world's diversity according to Enlightenment values, reflecting both scientific curiosity and imperial ideology. It functioned as both an informative reference and a literary work, influencing how European audiences understood and imagined distant lands. It proved extremely successful, and both reissues other publishers and pirate editions emerged, most notably Pierre de Hondt's 1747 Dutch edition and Jean-Franćois de la Harpe's 1780 abridged version. In addition to reissues of the original work, between 1768 and 1801, additional expanded volumes emerged, adding new voyages and histories. We have seen some sets with as many as 80 volumes. Over time, the Histoire générale des voyages became one of the most comprehensive and widely read travel collections of the 18th century, notable for blending factual reporting with the period's characteristic intellectual ambition.

Condition

Very good condition. Some marginal toning outside printed area.

References

Dunn, Ross E., The Adventures of Ibn Battuta: A Muslim Traveler of the 14th Century, Croom Helm, London & Sydney, 1986, p. 131 and p. 136 n. 41 p. 268 and p. 288 n. 3.