Greece - Balkans

This is a rare 1875 Ottoman Turkish large-format folding map of Montenegro produced by the Erkân-ı Harbiye Dairesi, the General Staff Department of the Ottoman military, based on an earlier 1869 Austrian map prepared by the Militärgeographisches Institut. Combining Austrian and Ottoman cartographic knowledge, largely gained during the Ottoman-Montenegrin War (1861 - 1862), it is the most detailed Ottoman map of Montenegro produced before the kingdom's independence. (more details)

This is an extremely rare 1668 plan of the port of Heraklion / Candia, Crete, illustrating the Venetian-controlled city during the final years of its 21-year-long Ottoman Siege. It is one of the only known works of the engraver Giovanni Maria Belgrano (fl. 1668-1680), who produced the work to accompany the rare first edition of Giovanni Battista Rostagno's (fl. 1668) travelogue based on his experience while he was a member of General Ghiron Francesco Villa's reconnaissance of Dalmatia and the Levant during the Cretan War. The present work was engraved in late 1668: the travelogue it appeared in was printed in Turin that same year. It is thus near contemporaneous the events depicted. (more details)

This rare plan of Jerusalem is the earliest printed iteration of Pietro Vesconte's manuscript plan of the city. While not committed to print until this 1611 edition by Jacques Bongars, the map is the work of the 14th-century Venetian cartographer Vesconte, who produced it c. 1320 to promote Marino Sanudo's proposed crusade to recapture the city. As such, it is one of the earliest surviving plans to support a specific military effort. (more details)

This is a scarce 1850 two-color chromolithograph view of Ljubljana (Laibach), Slovenia, by the Austrian artist Karl Waage. It is one of the largest printed views of Ljubljana of the 19th century. (more details)

This is the earliest printed iteration of Pietro Vesconte's 1611 portolan map of the Eastern Mediterranean, the Lower Nile, the Arabian Peninsula, and Mesopotamia. While not committed to print until this 1611 edition by Jacques Bongars, the map is the work of the 14th-century Venetian cartographer Vesconte, who produced it c. 1320 to promote Marino Sanudo's proposed crusade. As such, it is one of the earliest surviving maps to support a specific military effort. (more details)

This is Joachim Ottens' rare, beautiful 1717 map of Corfu. It was published in the wake of the famous 1716 Siege of Corfu; the victory is alluded to with the decorative element of the Venetian Lion of Saint Mark, sword upraised while kicking aside an Ottoman scimitar and turban. Ottens' map proved the canonical mapping of Corfu for the rest of the century. (more details)

An attractive old color c. 1717 Johannes van Keulen nautical chart or maritime map of the northern Aegean, Sea of Marmara, and the surrounding islands. Although critical to regional trade, the Aegean at this time was a hotbed of piracy - much associated with the ongoing Venetian-Ottoman War of 1714-1718. (more details)

This is Abraham Ortelius' 1603 map of Crete and other Mediterranean islands as they were understood in antiquity and Greek mythology. The engraving is comprised of four separate maps of Corsica, Sardinia, the Ionian Islands, with Crete dominating all. The present example was published by Vrients, Ortelius' executor. The coloration of the atlases published by Vrients was unusually fine, so original color examples of Ortelius' maps of these editions are particularly desirable. (more details)

This is a massive (56 x 70.5 in.) folding wall map of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, prepared in 1882 by Carl Friedrich Baur. It depicts the lands of the Dual Monarchy in the aftermath of the 1878 Congress of Berlin, which saw Austria-Hungary occupy Bosnia and Herzegovina as part of a coordinated effort to limit Russian influence in the Balkans. (more details)

This is an uncommon large-format c. 1739 Homann Heirs map of the Balkans drawn by the royal military engineer Johann Friedrich (Franz) Ottinger (fl. c. 1736 - 1765). It is superbly detailed and includes two dozen insets of cities and fortifications, illustrating the events of the Austro-Turkish War of 1737 - 1739. (more details)

This is a 1935 Egon Huber pictorial map of Rhodes, then a colony of Mussolini's Italy, in an unusual edition with Arabic text on the verso. It reflects the spirit of Rhodes' pre-occupation period, before the onset of aggressive Italianization policies, when the beautiful island was celebrated for its cultural diversity. This map was issued in at least 7 languages, but this is the first time we’ve encountered an Arabic variant. (more details)

This is Francesco Maria Levanto's 1664 chart of Crete and the adjacent Greek islands, in its 1698 Coronelli edition. Levanto's nautical atlas, Prima parte dello Specchio del Mare, was a translation of Pieter Goos' 1662 Zee-spiegel. The Italian adoption of this cartographic model is testimony to the primacy of 17th century Dutch hydrography, however misplaced it may have been in this case. (more details)

This is a 1935 Egon Huber pictorial map of Rhodes. (more details)

This is an 1854 Longuet map of the eastern Balkans and the Black Sea. The map depicts the region from Transylvania and Thessaly to Odessa and from the Dnister (Dniester) River to Lemnos. Published in the middle of the war, areas occupied by the Russians at the beginning of the war by the Russian Empire (Wallachia and Moldavia) are highlighted, allowing the audience back in France a better understanding of where their army had been committed.

Highly detailed, myriad cities, towns, and villages are labeled, including Odessa, Istanbul/Constantinople, Salonica, and Gallipoli. Three different grades of roads are illustrated, with different notations used to differentiate between them. An inset map situated along the right border details the Bosporus from the Sea of Marmara and Constantinople/Istanbul to the Black sea. Depth soundings are indicated throughout the strait, and the city is highlighted by red shading. A second inset, located in the lower right corner, expands the breadth of the map and situates it regionally, stretching from the Balkans to the Caspian Sea. (more details)

This is a monumental 1884 Richard Kiepert chromolithograph topographic map of Greece and the Balkan Peninsula. Such maps were introduced for school use and, with their bright colors and large size, became popular throughout Europe. The map depicts the region from central Italy east to the Bosporus and from the Danube Delta on the Black Sea to Crete. Kiepert employs a systematic color model to illustrate topography, river systems, and coastlines. Cities are marked but left unnamed. (more details)

This is a 1922 Ottoman Turkish military and topographic map of the Dardanelles, produced by the Erkan-ı Harbiye-i Umumiye Matbaası. It highlights fortifications, lines of communication, and other essential military information constructed just before and during World War I (1914 - 1918), preparations that would pay off during the Gallipoli Campaign in 1915. (more details)

This is a rare 1855 Mary Read chromolithograph bird's-eye view of the siege of Sebastopol during the Crimean War (1853 - 1856). This piece represents the remarkable work of one of the few independent female lithographers active in the 19th century. It emerged during the Crimean War - a wildly unpopular conflict in public opinion that nonetheless reshaped mid-19th-century European alliances. (more details)

This is a striking c. 1920 chromolithograph view of Dubrovnik (Ragusa), Croatia, printed by Theodor Bannwarth for the Obalna Paroplovidba (Coastal Steamship Company). Aside from its stunning aesthetic qualities, the view offers insight into the use of steamers by local travelers along the Dalmatian Coast during the height of the steamer era. (more details)

This is Friedrich Wilhelm Streit's rare 1830 map of the Kingdom of Hungary and associated territories, published by the Geographisches Institut, Weimar. It displays the Lands of the Hungarian Crown, including Transylvania, Slovakia, and much of today's Croatia, in the wake of the Napoleonic Wars (1803 - 1815) as the Habsburgs adjusted to a changed political landscape. (more details)

This is a beautiful, original color example of Ortelius' 1573 map of Cyprus, combined with an inset map of Lemnos. Moreover, this is a Vrients edition of the map: maps from these editions typically exhibit finer quality color than those printed during Ortelius' lifetime and are consequently very desirable. (more details)

This is an 1854 James Wyld map of the eastern Balkans and the Black Sea coast during the Crimean War. The map depicts the region from Salonica to Odessa, and from the Dnister (Dniester) River to the island of Lesbos (I. Mytilini) in the Aegean Sea. Published in the middle of the conflict, Wyld presents the theater of war, highlighting the two regions first occupied by the Russian Empire (Wallachia and Moldavia) and allowing his viewers a better understanding of the news they were receiving from their armies in the Balkans. (more details)

This is Daniele Farlati's rare 1751 bird's-eye view of ancient Salona, now Solin, in Croatia. Though now a suburb of Split, in the 5th century it was the capital not only of the Roman province of Dalmatia but also the seat of Julius Nepos, the last western Roman Emperor, making it the de facto capital of the Western Roman Empire. By that time, Salona had also become a key early center for Christianity. So, the city was a primary focus for the first two volumes of Farlati's ecclesiastical history of Illyricum. (more details)

This is a beautiful, contemporary-color example of Gerard and Leonard Valk's c. 1705 map of the lands surrounding the course of the Danube, extending from Vienna to the Black Sea. The map encompasses the perennial seat of war between Christian European powers and the Turkish Empire. (more details)

This is a beautiful, contemporary-color example of Nicolas Visscher's c. 1677 map of the lower Danube River, showing the Turkish administrative regions along the Black Sea coast. The map encompasses Transylvania, Serbia, Wallachia, Bulgaria and Romania. Portions of Greece and the Ukraine appear as well. Belgrade, Bucharest, and Istanbul are among the major cities appearing here. This map is notable in naming the Sanjaks, or Ottoman provinces in this contentious frontier region. These extend from the Sanjak of Ochakov (Ukraine on the Black Sea Coast) to the Sanjak of Gallipoli on the Sea of Marmora. Turkish rule in these regions was, by the time this map was produced, so established that many of the place names here are given both in approximations of the Turkish toponymy as well as European. (more details)

This is a c. 1917 National Printing and Engraving Company Greek broadside that is most likely associated with recruiting during World War I. Roughly translated as 'Enlist/Register so that it cannot be said that they offered their lives in vain'. Written in Katharevousa (καθαρεύουσα), a conservative form of Modern Greek conceived of as a compromise between Ancient Greek and Demotic Greek, due to the broadside's message, printing style, and the era in which the printer was active, we believe this broadside to date from World War I. (more details)

This elegantly engraved, scarce 1674 map of Crete was engraved in Vienna by Gaspar Bouttats after the 1651 map of Marco Boschini. The map captures the island at a crucial historic moment during the Cretan War (1645 - 1669), when the fate of Europe revolved around Crete. (more details)

This is a dramatic 1710 Homann map of Crete and the Greek Islands, in a bold original color example. In terms of the island's topography, it is largely based on the maps of Sanson from the prior century, but this older cartography frames fresh and astonishing information: the emergence of a new island, as part of the Santorini Archipelago. (more details)

This 1636 map of Asia Minor and Cyprus was engraved by Jansson in 1636 for inclusion in his business partner Henry Hondius's atlases. This example, lacking verso text and exhibiting a bold, sharp strike, was probably an early appendix issue intended for distribution to previous subscribers to Hondius' atlas. The map depicts the region from the Aegean Sea to the Euphrates River, and from the Black Sea to Cyprus and the Mediterranean Sea. The beautifully engraved map is embellished with an evocative cartouche flanked by two turbaned putti. West of Cyprus, two Ottoman triremes blast away at a square-rigged ship, alluding to the long contention between Turkish and Christian European powers over the region. Hondius and Jansson produced this map quite shortly after fellow Amsterdam mapmaker Blaeu produced a virtually identical map in 1634. Despite the heated competition evident between the two mapmaking giants, the map's geographical data was not strictly fresh - the 16th century cartographic giant, Gastaldi, remained authoritative with respect to this region. (more details)

This is a handsome example of Girolamo Ruscelli's 1561 / 1574 map of the Holy Land and Cyprus. It is an enlarged, more finely-engraved iteration of Giocomo Gastaldi's 1548 Soria e Terra Sancta nova tabula. While Tibbetts avers that the Ruscelli contains fewer place names than its Gastaldi source, he is incorrect: Ruscelli's map preserves all the data of the Gastaldi, but between the increased size of the plate and the clear, legible, and well-spaced engraving of the newer map, its data is presented without the crowding evident on the 1548 map. The skill evident in this work can be credited to the engraver Giulio Sanuto, one of the few Venetian engravers whose career was not isolated either to map engraving or to figurative artistic works, but consisted of both over a career of more than forty years. (more details)

A scarce and intriguing bilingual city plan or map of Sofia, Bulgaria, and accompanying booklet produced in 1928 by Alexander Petrov to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the city's liberation from Ottoman rule. (more details)

This is a rare 1538 map of Greece and the region surrounding Constantinople, executed by Sebastian Münster for inclusion in his edition of Solinus' Polyhistor. It predates by two years the map of Greece in Münster's 1540 edition of Ptolemy'sGeographia, but it shares with other early maps of Greece the Ptolemaic conic projection. It is a sixteenth century woodcut showing third century geographical knowledge of the region - although at its northern extents, contemporary place names intrude. The map extends from Dalmatia in the west to Cappadocia, Cilicia and Cyprus in the east; it extends from Crete and Cyprus in the south to Poland, Muscovy and Sarmatia in Europe in the north. The Black Sea and the Meotian Swamp (the Sea of Azov) also appear. The map is boldly and legibly presented, with hachured oceans, and with mountains shown pictorially. The cities of Adrianopolis and Constantinople are marked pictorially as well, suggesting their greatness. (more details)

This is Abraham Ortelius' 1573 engraving containing the maps of The Duchy of Carinthiae in Austria, Istria on the Adriatic coasts of Croatia and Slovenia, and the region around the Croatian ports of Zara and Srebrenica. Although the maps are not contiguous with one another, they all represent very contemporary maps of western strongholds near Europe's frontier with Habsburg Hungary and with the Ottoman Empire.

Ortelius was a keen compiler of sources: his map of the Duchy of Carinthia comes from the very current map of the Viennese Wolfgang Lazius; Carinthiae ducatus cum palatinate Goricia appeared in his 1561 atlas of Austria. Carinthia, the southernmost region of Austria, is now noted for the mountains of the Eastern Alps; the region on the map extends southwards beyond the Karawank Mountains into what is now northern Slovenia. The map is bisected by the Drava River running west to east. In addition to the mountains this region is also known for its lakes. The present map includes the Millstätter See, the Ossiacher See, and the Wörthersee. On the Slovenian side of the Karawank mountains near the city of Idria (Idrija) there is noted, Argenti viva fodine: a quicksilver, or mercury, mine. This is an accurate notation of keen interest: anyone seeking to purify mined silver or gold required quicksilver for the process; and the mine of Idrija had produced that rare metal going back to 1490.

The map of Istria - the Adriatic peninsula predominantly held by Croatia and Slovenia - Ortelius credited to its ultimate source, Pietro Coppo. The Venetian Coppo had lived in a town on the northwest coast of Istria for most of his life, and in about 1525 had produced a woodcut map of the area. Although in his text Ortelius also credits the scholar Leandro Alberti, Ortelius' map appears to be a closer to Bertelli's 1569 iteration of the Coppo.

The third map focuses on the region around the Croatian cities of Zadar (Zara) and Šibenik (Sebenici). Zadar is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Croatia and is a historical center of Dalmatia. The name 'Zara' began to be applied to the city when it was absorbed by the Republic of Venice in the 15th century. Šibenik is the third-largest city of Dalmatia, and like Zadar was held for a time by the Republic of Venice. Ortelius claimed his source to be anonymous; Meurer and Woodward have attributed the 1570 source map to Paolo Forlani. (more details)