"A New Map of Africa, from the Best Authorities", Lodge, John

This map of Africa copies Thomas Kitchin's map of 1770, itself a variant of Emanuel Bowen's 1747 map of the continent. Several place names appear along the coastline, including numerous towns and capes, and there is a lot of detail related to the topography and rivers, much of it speculative. The Nile River is still shown as originating from two adjacent lakes in Central Africa. Kingdoms are named throughout, although many of them are inventions. A pair of gold mines are located in southern Africa, and a tribe of "men eaters" are identified to the north of Lake Victoria. By the time the map was published, its cartography would have been out-of-date, but it was likely intended for a more general audience, less educated and affluent than those tuned into contemporary developments in scientific cartography. Decorated by a simple but elegant title cartouche. The map appeared in John Campbell's four-volume Lives of the British Admirals Containing a new and Accurate Naval History From the Earliest Periods (1785). This map is seemingly rare with only two dealer's listings in the last 30 years.

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Condition: A

Issued folding, now flat, with a binding trim in the right margin that has been replaced with old paper.