Artist / Author / Cartographer:

Moll, Herman

Title:

Asia by H. Moll Geographer

Date:

1729

Medium:

copper engraving, later colour

Size:

20 x 26.3 cm

Description:

An attractive map of Asia published in London in the first half of the eighteenth century. Most of Europe is shown as is part of Africa and the northern coast of New Holland (Australia)

 

Herman Moll was one of the leading mapmakers and engravers working in London at the beginning of the eighteenth century. A number of interesting notes often accompanied his maps. Moll was probably born in Bremen and he travelled to London in the late 1670s. He became part of the the London literary circle in the late seventeenth century and early eighteenth century among whom were Jonathan Swift and Daniel Defoe. He produced many marvelous maps in the first third of the eighteenth century. The high quality of Moll's work saw him become the mapmaker for the buccaneers, explorers and navigators William Dampier (1651-1715) and Woodes Rogers (c.1679-1732). Moll and Dampier were a similar age and when they first met Dampier had already completed two of his 3 voyages of circumnavigation. He circumnavigated the globe 1683 -1691, 1703 - 1707, 1708 -1711. His accounts of his voyages were illustrated with maps drawn by Moll. Moll drew trade winds on his maps based on Dampier's, "Discourse of Trade-Winds".

References:

Item Code:

MA6657

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