Antique Map of the Ionian Islands by Ersch-Gruber (c.1880)

Description: Antique map titled 'Die Jonische Siebeninsel Republik'. Old map of the Ionian Islands, a group of islands west of Greece. The seven islands are; Kerkyra, Paxi, Lefkada, Ithaki, Kefalonia, Zakynthos and Kythira. This map originates from 'Allgemeine Encyclopädie der Wissenschaften und Künste',  a 19th-century German encyclopaedia published by Johann Samuel Ersch and Johann Gottfried Gruber, therefore also known as the "Ersch-Gruber." One of the most ambitious encyclopaedia projects ever, it remains uncompleted.

Artists and Engravers: From its beginning through 1830, the Encyclopädie was published at Leipzig by Johan Friedrich Gleditsch. From 1831 until publication ceased in 1889, the Encyclopädie was published by Friedrich Arnold Brockhaus, also of Leipzig. Gleditsch published volumes 1 through 21 of the first section; volumes 1 through 7 of the second, but only the first volume of the third section. Brockhaus published the remaining volumes through 1889. By 1889, when the project was abandoned, the Encyclopädie had reached 167 volumes. The article about Greece alone covered 3,668 pages, spanning eight volumes.