Add it to the Wishlist: Blau's 1635 Map of South Africa “Aethiopia Inferior, vel Exterior“

I recently wrote about my 1830 map of southern Africa. One reason I found that map so interesting, was that it showed an Africa which had tribes in it, but very few European powers were setting up colonies in that part of the world.

This map of Southern Africa from 1635 is on sale by Inter-Antiquariaat Mefferdt & De Jonge in the Netherlands (as always, no affiliation). Take a look:

The sellers of this map have some good information about it on their website. They note a few interesting points. For starters, this map pre-dates Dutch colonies in this part of the world. It also notes that much of this map is based off of Portuguese maps, which are of mixed-degrees of accuracy.

The map does a pretty good job showing off various coastal place names, but these seem to be the names of geographic features (i.e. bays, coves, etc). There are also a few towns shown in the interior, but like the 1830 map of the same region, this map does not try to pretend to know what lies just beyond the coast.

Also notable is the lack of names of tribes found on the 1830 map. It may be that Europeans were not sufficiently familiar with the inhabitants of Africa to name them. Part of South Africa on this map is named "Caffaria", or Kaffraria, which is a word that has at its root a derogatory term for Africans. The name of this place appears on the 1830s map as well, and so it seems that Europeans were either indifferent to the disrespectful use of the word, or that it only fell out of accepted usage at a later date.

It's also interesting that even though there was little European presence in Africa at the time of this map, Africa is still divided into regions, for example, Mozambique--with its wonderful little elephants--clearly has a border. It's not clear what exactly prompted the inclusion of this border.

Finally, aside from the historic interest and value of this map, being a Blau, one of the reasons it ends up on the wish-list is its aesthetic beauty. The cartouche, and this lonely little turtle in the Gulf of Guinea, make it a stunning map for the collection of anyone interested in this part of the world.

1830 Map of Southern Africa

One of my favorite maps--despite my having not yet framed it to display--is my 1830 Malte-Brun map of Southern Africa. This is one of a couple of maps I've bought from the Pageant Print Shop (who, as always, I have no affiliation with) in New York City. It's the kind of map shop I love. The space is packed in every nook and cranny with maps, generally well organized, but still vague enough that you have to search for the treasure you're looking for. The owners have been in the business for a long time and know what they're talking about and the experience shopping there is really pretty great.

Back to the map! There are many interesting features of this map, but my favorite comes down to two words across the middle of the map. Take a look at the picture and see if you can guess them.

Can you guess? The words are "unknown regions". What's more thrilling than a map that shows vast areas that are simply unknown? What carries more mystery, mystique, adventure and possibility than blanks on a map?!

Indeed, in my mind, one of the greatest things about this map is the contrast between the areas that have considerable detail and the regions that have basically none. For example, Madagascar is quite well detailed as is the Cape Colony, the nucleus of modern day South Africa, but so much else is lacking.

As one may expect, most of the detail is on the coasts. The seeds of some modern day countries are visible, for example Angola, Congo, Somalia and Abyssinia, which is modern day Ethiopia are on this map. The detail about some of the various peoples and their regions is also fascinating, and I think would be even more interesting if one knew more about African history than I do.

I do know enough, however, to know that the Sudan or "Soodan" on this map, does not stretch all the way across Africa and that Guinea is a relatively small country located on the West coast of Africa, not a large region to the north of the Gulf of Guinea. Benin does seem to be in about the right place though. I also know enough to point out that one of the most well known groups in Africa, the Zulu, who had a burgeoning empire at the time this map was made, seem to be nowhere to be found.

Even the very little detail that does exist in the regions marked as unknown seems incorrect or incomplete, which is really no surprise. For example, compare the length of the Congo River, and it's connection to other major rivers in the region to the relatively puny depiction it gets in this map.

The Congo River and rivers it connects with

The map itself does not have original color, but was hand colored by someone after publication. My copy also has a couple of minor stains on it, which diminish its value slightly, but as far as I'm concerned, it's a gorgeous, fascinating map with some amazing detail. I can't wait to get it framed and on the wall.