Grecian Archipelago, Antique Map of the Ancient Aegean Islands, 1845
US$547
Original antique · The actual sheet photographed · Certificate of authenticity on request · Sold unframed · Worldwide shipping from € 15 (rates)
Date
1845
Mapmaker / artist
Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, London; engraved by John and Charles Walker
Publisher
Charles Knight and Company, 22 Ludgate Street, London
Technique
Steel Engraving
Coloring
Original hand color
Sheet size
43.5 × 35 cm (17.1 × 13.8 in)
Condition
Good
Reference
BG-14487-2-67
What the condition grades mean
Excellent
Bright and clean, with no faults worth mentioning.
Very good
Only light signs of age, such as faint toning.
Good
Normal signs of age for a sheet of this period: toning, some foxing, small marks or neat old repairs.
Fair
Clear faults such as staining, tears or repairs, priced to match.
Every fault we see is written in the condition note, and the whole sheet is shown uncropped in the photos.
Condition
Light overall age toning, with the paper darker along the right edge, a few foxing spots in the margins, handling wear to the top left and bottom right corners and minor nicks along the left edge. The printed image itself is clean.
About this sheet
This antique classical map of the Aegean, dated the first of April 1845, gives the Grecian Archipelago under its ancient names and carries every island of consequence between the Propontis and Crete. Thracia and Macedonia run along the top with Mount Athos and the Strymonic and Thermaic gulfs; the coasts of Mysia, Lydia, Maeonia, Ionia, Aeolis, Doris and Caria fill the eastern side; and Attica, Boeotia, Euboea and the Argolid close the west, with Athenae marked. Lemnos, Imbros, Samothrace, Lesbos, Chios, Samos, Icaria, Patmos, Cos and Rhodes are drawn down the Asiatic shore, the Cyclades are scattered through the center with Naxos, Paros, Delos, Melos and Thera named, and Crete lies along the foot of the sheet in full. The seas are each separately lettered, Myrtoum, Icarium, Carpathium and Creticum Mare. Every island is washed in a pale blue green hand applied tint that makes the archipelago stand out from the open sea.
The plate comes from Maps of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, in the new edition corrected to the present time that Charles Knight and Company published at 22 Ludgate Street, London, in 1845, whose first volume covers Europe. The Society was founded in 1826 by Henry Brougham and his circle to publish useful knowledge at a low price. Its maps were issued in parts from 1829, first by Baldwin and Cradock, from 1842 by Chapman and Hall and then by Charles Knight, and the series grew to about two hundred maps. Most of them were engraved on steel by John and Charles Walker, and the outline color was applied by hand.
The plate is signed by J. and C. Walker as engravers. The imprint at the foot names Charles Knight and Company of 22 Ludgate Street, London and is dated 1 April 1845.
Light overall age toning, with the paper darker along the right edge, a few foxing spots in the margins, handling wear to the top left and bottom right corners and minor nicks along the left edge. The printed image itself is clean.
This is an original antique map, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed. Any framed or interior images are shown for presentation and inspiration only, unless the listing explicitly states that the item is sold framed.
