Discover the Art of Maps: Home

Rigobert Bonne (1727-1795) was appointed Royal Cartographer to France in the office of the Hydrographer at the Depot de la Marine. His attention to detail and accuracy along with his practical aesthetics were a departure from the decorative and artistic cartography of the 17th and early 18th century and made him one of the most important map makers of the modern era. (Wikipedia,2023)

This map was published in Paris in 1787. It includes updates provided by James Cook for Hawaii, New Zealand and the northwest coast of America. The United states is shown confined to east of the Mississippi River. In the lower left is a diagram of the shape of a hemisphere showing the poles. The lower right has a compass known as a “Rose de Boussol (Valdosta State Universityb, 2023).

Didier Robert de Vaugondy (1723-1786) was a French cartographer.  Born into a family of noted cartographer Didier Robert and his father Giles Robert de Vaugondy worked with the French Royalty to people that paid subscriptions for their Atlases that could be bound like a book or loose leaf.  Their innovations in cartography was a start of a new techniques called speculative cartography and exact observations from the ground (Wikipedia, 2023; Tooley, 1987).

Johann Christoph Harenberg was born on April 28, 1696 in Langenholzen in Germany.  He died in Braunscheweig, Germany in 1774.  He was historian, professor, religious leader, and provost at a monastery.  He published books on Christian views on vampires, history of Germany, created a maps (Wikipedia, 2023).

This map depicts the region of Palestine divided into the 12 tribes of Israel.  In the right hand corners there are two title cartouches.  The lower is exceptionally decorative and depicts two spies of Moses bearing the fruit from the Promised Land to the Hebrew camp, as well as the front and back of an ancient shekel coin.  The upper left quadrant offers an overview of the region as a whole.  The upper right features a dedication from the mapmaker to Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand, the future Prince of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel and Duke of Braunschweig-Lüenberg (Valdosta State Unviversitya, 2023). 

Maps represents the world around us. The maps selected from the Tatler-Burgess collection are from the 16-19th centuries. These maps were created by what people thought the world looked like and are not necessarily representations of what is actually there. 

The maps includes different innovation and visions of map making.  For example, longitude, latitude, compass and cartouches. Maps were printed on materials such as parchment and paper by first engraving the map onto materials such as steel, copper, and wood.

Abraham Ortelius birth date is disputed.  He was either born on the 4 or 14 of April 1527 or 1528.  He was a Brabantian (Netherlands) cartographer, cosmographer, and geographer.  He is the creator of the first modern Atlas, Theatrum Orbis Terrarum. He died in 1598. (Wikipedia, 2023)

Thomas Bowen (1733-1790) was a son of a Welsh engraver Emanuel Bowen (1693-1767) who served George II and Louis XV.  He engraved charts and maps.  He was not as successful as his father and would eventually die in a British workhouse because of poverty in 1790 (Wikipedia, 2023; Geographicus Rare Antique Maps, 2023).

Gilles Robert de Vaugondy (1688–1766), was an influential  royal geographer of France in the 18th century.  His son was Didier Robert de Vaugondy was also a cartographer. (Wikipedia, 2023; Tooley, 1987)

Joan Bleau ( aka Johannes Blaeu) (1596-1673) was a Dutch cartographer who work for the Dutch East India Company when his father died. (Wikipedia, 2023)

Born in France, Claude Buy de Mornas birth year is unknown.  He was a son of a royal geographer and a professor of geography.  He died in 1783 (Bibliotheque Nationale de France, 2023).