About Antique Maps

Almost all maps on the market today were produced since the invention of the printing press. Printing methods such as copper plate engraving, steel engraving or lithography were used. These hand-printing methods require the skilled hands of craftsmen. Only artists would use such time consuming methods for printing today. Therefore old maps are beautiful, decorative works of art that are suitable for framing. The best ones also contain significant historical information.

Woodblock printing is an early form of print making that you will see in our Ptolemy maps published by Munster in 1542 and some of our antique sheet music- it features bold dark lines. Copperplate engraving was invented in the 16th century and became the dominant printmaking method for several centuries until steel plate engraving was invented in 1792. Copperplates are softer and easier for artists to work with, but wear out the more prints you make with them. Steel plate print making allows finer lines and more prints than copperplate and was used for reproducing paintings as prints and also for atlases and books- anything that required many prints to be made with the same plate. During the 1880's, they began using photography in the printing and coloring of maps. This was considered a great technological advance because they could print many more maps at far less cost making them affordable to everyone.

Many early maps were left uncolored by their publishers and have been colored at a later date. It is often difficult or impossible to tell if coloring is original. When done well, later hand coloring enhances the appearance of old maps and prints and makes them more desirable to most people. By the 1800s it was common to color maps and atlases using hand coloring (often done with stencils by unskilled laborers) and by the late 1800s printed color was common. Collectors are beginning to take interest in maps printed in the early 1900s and many maps, particularly pictorial maps, have become highly desirable.

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The following list is used as reference for the antique maps listed within this web site:


List of Cartographers - Source: Wikipedia

Before 1400• Anaximander, Greek Anatolia, (610 BC-546 BC), first to attempt making a map of the known world • Hecataeus of Miletus, Greek Anatolia (550 BC-476 BC), geographer, cartographer, and early ethnographer • Dicaearchus, Greece (circa 350 BC-285 BC), philosopher, cartographer, geographer, mathematician, author • Eratosthenes, Ptolemaic Egypt, (276 BC-194 BC) a Greek scientist, mathematician, geographer, and cartographer • Hipparchus, Greece, (190 BC-120 BC), astronomer, cartographer, geographer • Isidore of Seville, Spain (560-636) • Al-Idrisi, Sicily (1100-1166), Arab cartographer, geographer and traveller. • Liu An, China (179 BC-122 BC), geographer, cartographer, author of the Huainanzi • Marinus of Tyre (ca. 70 - 130 A.D.) was a Phoenician geographer, cartographer and mathematician, who founded mathematical geography. • Ptolemy, Ptolemaic Egypt, (circa 85-165), a Greek astronomer, cartographer, geographer • Petrus Vesconte, Genoese cartographer, author of the oldest signed Portolan chart (1311) • Shen Kuo, China (1031-1095), a polymath scientist and statesman, author of the Dream Pool Essays, which included a large atlas of China and foreign regions, and also made a three dimensional raised-relief map. • Su Song, China (1020-1101), horologist and engineer; as a Song Dynasty diplomat, he used his knowledge of cartography and map-making to solve territorial border disputes with the rival Liao Dynasty • Angelino Dalorto or Angelino Dulcert (14th century) author of the earliest known majorcan portolan charts of the Mediterranean

15th century • Martin Behaim (Germany, 1436 – 1507) • Benedetto Bordone Italy (1460 - 1551) • Sebastian Cabot (1476-1557), Italian explorer • Erhard Etzlaub (1460 – 1532) • Henricus Martellus Germanus (Italy, fl. 1480-1496) • Donnus Nicholas Germanus (Germany, fl. 1460-1475) • Fra Mauro (Venice, c.1459) • Piri Reis/Hadji Muhammad (Dardanelles, Ottoman Empire, 1465 – 1554/1555) • Johannes Ruysch (Netherlands, c 1466 - 1530) explorer, cartographer, astronomer, manuscript illustrator and painter • Hartmann Schedel (Germany, 1440 – 1514) • Amerigo Vespucci (Italy, 1454 – 1512) • Martin Waldseemüller (Germany, c.1470 – c.1521/1522) • Johannes Werner (Germany, 1466 – 1528) refined and promoted the Werner map projection • Gabriel de Valseca (15th century), majorcan, author of several portolan charts of the Mediterranean • Grazioso Benincasa (15th century), venezian (?), author of several portolan charts of the Mediterranean

16th century • Giovanni Battista Agnese (c. 1500 - 1564) Italian cartogapher, author of numerous nautical atlases • Peter Apian (1495 - 1552) - Also known as Peter Bienewitz German geographer and astronomer, author of the Apianus projection • Philipp Apian (1531-1589) • Joost Janszoon Bilhamer (Netherlands, 1541-1590) • Willem Janszoon Blaeu (Netherlands, 1571 - 1638) - Father of Joan Blaeu • Giovanni Battista Boazio (? - ?) - Mapped Sir Francis Drake's voyage to the West Indies and America • Jacob Roelofs van Deventer, (Netherlands, c 1510/15 - 1575) • Fernão Vaz Dourado (India, c. 1520 - c. 1580) - Portuguese cartographer of the school initiated by Lopo Homem • Oronce Finé (France, 1494 – 1555) • Gemma Frisius (or Reiner Gemma) (Netherlands, Flanders, 1508 - 1555) • Martin Helwig (Germany, 1516 - 1574) • Lopo Homem (? - 1565) - Portuguese cartographer co-author, with the Reinel family, of the well-known Miller Atlas • Diogo Homem (1521 - 1576) - Portuguese cartographer, son of Lopo Homem • Jodocus Hondius (Flanders, England, Netherlands, 1563 - 1612) • Gerard de Jode (Netherlands,Flanders, 1509 - 1591) • Jacques le Moyne (France, ca. 1533 - 1588) • Guillaume Le Testu (France, ca. 1509 - 1573) • Gerardus Mercator (Flanders, Netherlands, 1512 - 1594) • Sebastian Münster (Germany, 1488 – 1552) • Abraham Ortelius, (Flanders, 1527 - 1598) - Generally recognized as the creator of the first modern atlas • Petrus Plancius, (Netherlands, 1552 - 1622) • Timothy Pont, (Scotland, 1565 - 1614) • Pedro Reinel (? - c. 1542) - Portuguese cartographer, author of the oldest signed Portuguese nautical chart • Jorge Reinel (c. 1502 - c. 1572) - Portuguese cartographer, son of Pedro Reinel • Diego Ribero (Portugal, ? - Sevilha, 1533) - Portuguese cartographer, author of the first known planisphere with a graduated Equator (1527) • Sebastião Lopes (16th century) - Portuguese cartographer and cosmographer • Christopher Saxton, (England, born c 1540) • John Speed, (England, 1542 - 1629) • Fernando Álvares Seco (? - ?) - Portuguese cartographer, who signed the oldest known map of Portugal, reproduced in various editions of Abraham Ortelius's Theatrum Orbis Terrarum • Luís Teixeira (? - ?) - Portuguese cartographer, author of an important Atlas of Brasil • Bartolomeu Velho (? - 1568) - Portuguese cosmographer and cartographer • Lucas Janszoon Waghenaer (Netherlands, 1533/34 - 1605/06) - Driver, cartographer • Edward Wright (mathematician) (England, 1561 - 1615) - Mathematician and cartographer

17th century • Pieter van der Aa (Netherlands, 1659 - 1733) • João Teixeira Albernaz (? - ?) Portuguese cartographer, son of Luís Teixeira, who was cosmographer major of the kingdom • Pedro Teixeira Albernaz (c. 1565 - 1662) Portuguese cartographer author of an important atlas of the Iberian Peninsula and a map of Portugal (1656 • Johannes Blaeu (Netherlands, 1596 - 1673) • Vincenzo Coronelli (Venetian, 1650 - 1718) • Guillaume Delisle (French, 1675 - 1726) • Petter Gedda (Sweden, 1661 - 1697) • Hessel Gerritsz (Netherlands, 1581 - 1632), cartographer for the VOC • Isaak de Graaf (Netherlands, 1668 - 1743), cartographer for the VOC • Johann Homann (Germany, 1664 - 1724), geographer • Henricus Hondius (Netherlands, 1597 - 1651) • Willem Hondius (Netherlands, 1598 - 1652/58) • Johannes Janssonius (Netherlands, 1588 - 1664) • Johannes van Keulen (Netherlands, 1654 - 1715) • Joannes de Laet (Netherlands, 1581 - 1649) • Michael van Langren (Netherlands, 1600 - 1675) • Alain Manesson Mallet (France, 1630 - 1706) • Matthäus Merian Sr (Switzerland, 1593 - 1650) and Jr. ((Switzerland, 1621 - 1687) • Herman Moll (Germany?/England, 1654 – 1732) • Robert Morden (England, died 1703) • Dirck Rembrantsz van Nierop (Netherlands, 1610 - 1682), cartographer, mathematician and astronomist • John Ogilby (Scotland, 1600 - 1676) • Nicolas Sanson (France, 1600 - 1667) • Peter Schenk (Germany, 1660 - 1718/19) • Johannes Vingboons (Netherlands, 1616/17 - 1670) cartographer and aquarellist • Claes Jansz Visscher (Netherlands, 1587 - 1652) • Nicolaes Visscher (Netherlands, 1618 - 1679) • Frederik de Wit (Netherlands, 1610/16 - 1698) • Nicolaes Witsen (Netherlands, 1641 - 1717) diplomat, cartographer, writer and mayor of Amsterdam

18th century • Giambattista (Giovanni Battista) Albrizzi (Venice, 1698 – 1777), publisher of illustrated books and maps • Jean Baptiste Bourguignon d'Anville (France, 1697 - 1782) • Jacques-Nicolas Bellin (1703 - 1772) Chief cartographer to the French navy • Rigobert Bonne (France, 1727-1795)- Royal Cartographer to France in the office of the Hydrographer at Depot de la Marine • Jean Baptiste Bourguignon d'Anville (France, 1697 – 1782) • Abel Buell (1742 - 1822), published the first map of the new United States created by an American • César-François Cassini de Thury (France, 1714 – 1784) • Jean-Dominique Cassini (France, 1748 – 1845) • James Cook (Captain RN) (1728 – 1779) navigator and naval chart maker • Simeon De Witt (1756 - 1834) Successor to Robert Erskine and Surveyor-General of the State of New York • Johann Friedrich Endersch (Germany, fl. 1755) • Colonel Robert Erskine (1735 - 1780) Geographer and Surveyor-General of the Continental Army during the American Revolution. • Joseph de Ferraris (1726 - 1814), Austrian cartographer of the Austrian Netherlands • Louis Feuillée (France, 1660 – 1732) • Thomas Jefferys (England, c. 1710 - 1771) Geographer of King George III of the United Kingdom • Murdoch McKenzie (Scotland, died 1797) • John Mitchell (1711 - 1768) Colonial British American mapmaker. • Carlton Osgood (United States, †1816) • Adriaan Reland (Netherlands, 1676 - 1718), linguist & cartographer • Thomas Richardson - Scottish • Dider Robert de Vaugondy (France, 1688 - 1766) • John Rocque (England, 1709 - 1762) • Matthäus Seutter (Germany, 1678 - 1757) • Friedrich Wilhelm Karl von Schmettau (1743 - 1806) • Matthias Seutter (Germany, 1678 – 1757) • Daniel-Charles Trudaine (France, 1703 – 1769) • Philip Johan von Strahlenberg (1676 – 1747)

19th century • John James Abert (United States, 1788 - 1863) • Louis Albert Guislain Bacler d'Albe (France, 1761 – 1824) • Henry Peter Bosse (Germany/United States, 1844 - 1903) • George Bradshaw (England, 1801 - 1853) • Agostino Codazzi (Italy, 1793 - 1858) • James Ireland Craig, Craig retroazimuthal projection. • Carl Diercke (1842 - 1913) • Louis Isidore Duperrey (France, 1786 – 1865) • Lucas, Fielding Jr. (c. 1781—1854) Lucas Brothers, Baltimore, USA • Matthew Flinders ( 16 March 1774 – 19 July 1814) - Circumnavigated, Tasmania and Australia • Matthew Fontaine Maury, (1806-1873) American, USN, oceanographer, meteorologist, cartographer, author, geologist, educator. • Björn Gunnlaugsson (Iceland, 1788 – 1876) • Charles F. Hoffmann (Germany/United States, 1838 - 1913) • Pierre Jacotin (France, 1765 – 1829) • Felix Jones (England, 1813 - 1878) • Peter Kozler (Slovenia, 1824 - 1879), lawyer, geographer, politician, manufacturer. • Victor Adolphe Malte-Brun (France, 1816 - 1889) • Robert Moresby (England, 1794 - 1863) • Thomas Moule (England, 1784 - 1851) • John Tallis and Company (England, 1838 - 1851) • Yuly Shokalsky (Russia, 1856 - 1940) • Nicolas Auguste Tissot (France, 1824 - 1897) • Philippe Vandermaelen (Belgium, 1795 - 1869) • James Wilson (1763 – 1835) First globe maker in the US. • Nain Singh Rawat: Indian cartographer. • Elijah H. Burritt ( United States, 1794 - 1838) the "forgotten astronomer" whose Geography of the Heavens was the seminal American astronomical geography of the period •

20th century • A Robinson projection of the Earth. • Erik Arnberger (1917 - 1987) • Jacques Bertin (France, 1918- ) • Roger Brunet (1931- ) • Bernard J.S. Cahill (1867-1944) - Inventor of octahedral "Butterfly Map" of the world • George Comer (1858 – 1937) • James Ireland Craig (1868-1952) - Inventor of the Craig retroazimuthal projection, otherwise known as the Mecca projection • John Paul Goode (1862-1932) - Created the "Evil Mercator" and Goode’s World Atlas • Max Eckert-Greifendorff (Germany, 1868 - 1938) • Hermann Haack (Germany, 1872 - 1966) • Günther Hake (1922 - 2000) • Richard Edes Harrison (1901-1994) • Tom Harrisson (1911-1976) • Eduard Imhof (1895 - 1986) - Oversaw the Schweizerischer Mittelschulatlas, the atlas used in Swiss high schools from 1932 until 1976 • George F. Jenks (1916 - 1996) • Elrey Borge Jeppesen (1907-1996) • Edgar Lehmann (1905 - 1990) • John P. Snyder (1926-1997) - Developed the Space oblique mercator projection • Rudi Ogrissek (1926 - 1999) • Arno Peters (1916-2002) - Developed the Gall-Peters projection • Erwin Raisz (1893 - 1968) • Arthur H. Robinson (1915 - 2004) - Wrote the influential textbook Elements of Cartography and developed the Robinson projection • William R. Shepherd (1871 - 1934) • John C. Sherman (1916 - 1996) • Bradford Washburn (1910-2007) • David Woodward (1942-2004)

21st century • Tom Patterson - Cartographer for the National Park Service, creator of Natural Earth • Nikolas Schiller (1980- ) - Arabesque maps composed of kaleidoscopic aerial photographs • Dr. E. Lee Spence, (1947- ) - Pioneer underwater archaeologist, decorative, historical maps showing shipwreck locations • Waldo R. Tobler (1930- ) - Developed the First law of geography • Denis Wood (1945- ) - Artist, author, and former professor