Chart Mediterranean by Chart (6 results)

No Binding. Condition: Very Good. Large folded aeronautical chart; ex-corporate library; in very good condition. Map.

No Binding. Condition: Very Good. USAF 1/1M chart colour printed to the recto 74x56cm, with supporting text, keys, index maps, and correction instructions to the verso. Near fine, neatly folded. First published in August 1947, revised August 1958 with air information current to October 1958. This 11th Edition dates to a period of tremendous upheaval, including the Lebanon Crisis (July-Oct 1958) in which US forces occupied Beirut's international airport and port in support of President Chamoun; the aftermath of the Iraq Revolution (July 1958) which overthrew the pro-British monarchy and strained relations with the Iraq Petroleum Company (IPC); the Jordan Crisis (July-Oct 1958) in which the US sent troops via Beirut to help the British quell the coup against King Hussein; the Cyprus Emergency (1955-59); and Syria (here named United Arab Republic) joined with Egypt as a step towards Arab unity. Cyprus is shown to the west with major air route over Nicosia, large Danger or Restricted Areas off its coasts, and part of Turkey to the north. The Mediterranean coast runs down the centre from Antioch to Jaffa with Israel and southern Lebanon marked as Prohibited except for an air corridor over Haifa to the Armistice Line, with the Demilitarised Zone to the east. Coverage stretches inland to Raqqah (NE) and Jordan's approximate boundaries with Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Major stretches of both branches of the IPC Pipeline are shown, one along the southern edge to Haifa, the other centrally to Tripoli, with their pumping stations and landing grounds. The latter, with a "Danger Area" marked off the coast, sustained damage during the unrest in Lebanon. Key settlements include Damascus, Aleppo, Beirut, Tel Aviv, Nicosia, etc, with associated air corridors, Danger, Restricted, and Prohibited Areas. Altitude is colour shaded. Extensive physical and human geographical features are shown, including infrastructure, cultural sites, and notes about terrain. The Hejaz Railway is marked as "dismantled". Aeronautical information includes aerodromes, airfields, navigation lights, radio facilities, airspace and radio range, restricted areas etc.

A visually striking portolan chart of the Mediterranean, North Africa, and parts of the Middle East, lavishly decorated and preserved in exceptional condition. Stylistically unmistakably Portuguese, it was likely produced by the prominent cartographer Luis Teixeira, father of João Teixeira Albernaz I, who also became a celebrated mapmaker. The map of Japan in Ortelius' Theatrum Orbis Terrarum is also attributed to Luis Teixeira, a fitting contribution given the strong Portuguese presence in the region, and he is likewise credited with the Magna Orbis, a large wall map of the world.As typical of portolans produced in the Iberian Peninsula during the period of the Iberian Union, the chart is richly embellished. It depicts the desert-like yet greenish landscapes of North Africa, the castles of Spain and Germany, and the Cross over Jerusalem, among other features. Coastlines are drawn in reddish ink; smaller islands are fully painted in gold, blue, red, or green, while major islands are outlined in green. No rivers are indicated. Toponyms, names of cities and towns, are rendered in red and black ink, numbering over 800 coastal place names.Seven town vignettes are included, notably Lisbon, topped with the Portuguese flag; Jerusalem, marked with the Cross of Golgotha; and Venice, displaying the Lion of Saint Mark. The decorative programme is further enriched with thirteen heraldic arms and flags, including those of Ireland, Scotland, and England, the fleur-de-lis of France, the coat of arms of Spain, the probable flag of Genoese Gazaria over Crimea (denoting the Sanjak of Caffa), and the banner of the Portuguese Order of Christ over Ceuta. Particularly noteworthy is the imperial double-headed eagle over Tunis; if this refers to actual Habsburg occupation rather than a retrospective tribute, it would suggest a date prior to 1574, when the city was retaken by Ottoman forces (it had been under Christian control since 1534).Additional decorations include a Christus Patiens, two Portuguese carracks sailing the Atlantic, and a cluster of palm trees with rocks in the Sahara. Eight wind roses are depicted, two of which prominently display a fleur-de-lis at the north point. A latitude scale runs along the extreme left border, marked from the 20th to the 60th parallel, while three scale bars, two framed in decorative cartouches, provide further reference.Overall, this is a highly accomplished portolan chart, executed in the Iberian style, which is characterised by greater visual richness than the typically more restrained Italian school. Its elaborate embellishment and careful execution suggest that it was intended for presentation or collection rather than active navigational use.Portolan charts have existed since the 13th century, with the earliest known examples dating to the second half of the 14th century. Originally, they served as tools for coastal navigation in the Mediterranean and Atlantic, providing a European-centred understanding of the known world. Charts intended for practical navigation typically left inland areas blank, whereas luxury examples such as this one feature elaborate decoration and symbolic embellishments.Geographic scope: The chart extends north to the Shetland Islands and the Norwegian coast (excluding the Baltic Sea), east to the eastern shores of the Black Sea, south to the Red Sea, and westward to the Azores, including Faja Grande and Corvo. The Atlantic coastline reaches as far south as the Mauritanian coast, between present-day Guerguerat and Ras Nouadhibou.Comparison: This example shares notable stylistic and compositional features with the HM1549 portolan chart at the Huntington Library, signed by Luis Teixeira. The distribution of town vignettes, flags, the crucifix, and the palm motif are highly comparable, with subtle stylistic differences. The toponymic script also shows significant similarities. Geographically, the present chart spans from the 19th to the 61st parallel and is centred on Sicily, whereas HM1549 extends from the 19th to the 64th parallel and is centred on Sardinia.It is also worth noting that while HM1549 shows the Ottoman flag flying over Tunis, the present chart features the imperial eagle. Assuming, as previously noted, that this denotes actual territorial control rather than a symbolic anachronism, the map may be dated prior to 1574. This would place it within the formative period of Luis Teixeira and the Portuguese cartographic school, particularly as Teixeira passed his cosmography examination in 1564 under Pedro Nunes and Jorge Reinel and received a royal commission in 1569 to produce nautical charts for the Portuguese navy.We are grateful to Richard Pflederer and Chet van Duzer for their input in the preparation of this description.Fine condition, the chart presents some cockling to the vellum and traces of a previous mounting at the edges and near the latitude scale, some minor fading to colours which for the most part are strong and vibrant; overall excellent. Manuscript nautical chart on a single sheet of vellum, centred on the Mediterranean basin.

192 x 390 mm. Folding manuscript chart in ink and blue, red, brown, and greenish colours on vellum, embellishments and some islands heightened in gold. Framed (61:41 cm). A finely drawn, small-scale portolan chart measuring only 39 centimetres across, showing the Mediterranean Sea with the northern coast of Africa, but also the coast of Portugal. The deeply cleft coastlines are typical of portolan charts; windrose lines emanate from 12 compass roses; there are two distance bar scales in the upper right and lower left corners. Uncommonly, no toponymic information has been added to the littoral. Decoration is sparse, though a trimount with crosses at the lower right indicates the location of the Holy Land. For a similar example cf. a chart attributed to Giovanni Battista Cavallini or his workshop in the Library of Congress, dating from ca. 1678 (LC Nautical charts on vellum, 20). - Traces of three vertical folds with repairs to occasional damage near top and lower edges; a larger vellum flaw on the right edge, measuring ca. 3 x 3 cm, has likewise been re-backed with paper (without loss to image). A decorative example.

Very good. Slight centerfold toning. Laid down on old linen. Size 50 x 32.5 Inches. This is John Norie's large-format 1850 nautical chart of the western Mediterranean Sea, including the Strait of Gibraltar and the Balearic Islands. Among other features, it highlights the critically important Strait of Gibraltar, the crux of British naval power in the Mediterranean. A Closer Look The chart covers the western Mediterranean from Cadiz, Tangier, and the Strait of Gibraltar in the west to Nice and the Gulf of Stora (Skikda) in Algeria in the east. Cities and towns, river estuaries, mountains, capes, bays, and other features are labeled all along the coastlines of islands and the mainland of Europe and Africa. Soundings, hazards, bottoms, banks, shoals, reefs, rocks, islets, anchorages, currents, and other essential navigational information are also noted. Crossed swords indicate the location of the 1805 Battle of Trafalgar. Eighteen insets surround the map, with additional navigational information on ports and important waterways, including the Strait of Gibraltar. The insets have extensive notes on the number and nature of lights, with lighthouses illustrated where applicable. Some of the insets cover ports not on the chart, as this chart was originally the westernmost and title sheet of a larger multi-sheet work covering the entire Mediterranean. For example, insets are included for Leghorn (Livorno) and Genoa, with the latter illustrating the Genoa Lighthouse (Lanterna di Genova), the tallest in the world from its construction in 1543 until the early 20th century Bedrock of the British Empire Aside from India, perhaps no single piece of land played a greater role in the history of the British Empire than the 2.6 square miile territory of Gibraltar at the southern tip of Iberia. The stronghold, situated on a peninsula dominated by a limestone mountain (the Rock of Gibraltar), was captured by the British in 1704 during the War of Spanish Succession (1701 - 1714) and was granted to them in the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht that ended that conflict; it has remained a territory of Great Britain ever since. Spain was naturally not thrilled about the prospect of a hostile power controlling a stronghold adjacent to their own territory, especially one that effectively controlled access to the Mediterranean, and besieged Gibraltar in 1727 and for more than three and a half years during the American Revolutionary War (1775 - 1783). However, the British could not be dislodged. Subsequently, the territory played a critical role as a base for the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars (1803 - 1815), including the period leading up to the Battle of Trafalgar. The British continued to fortify and upgrade facilities at Gibraltar throughout the 19th century. It became the keystone in a string of bases throughout the Mediterranean that would eventually protect the vital link to India once the Suez Canal was opened in 1869. Blueback Charts Blueback nautical charts began appearing in London in the late 18th century. Bluebacks, as they came to be called, were privately published large-format nautical charts known for their distinctive blue paper backing. The backing, a commonly available blue manila paper traditionally used by publishers to wrap unbound pamphlets, was adopted as a practical way to reinforce the low-quality paper used by private chart publishers in an effort to cut costs. That being said, not all blueback charts are literally backed with blue paper. The earliest known blueback charts include a 1760 chart issued by Mount and Page, and a 1787 chart issued by Robert Sayer. The tradition took off in the early 19th century, when British publishers like John Hamilton Moore, Robert Blachford, James Imray, William Heather, John William Norie, Charles Wilson, David Steel, R. H. Laurie, and John Hobbs, among others, rose to dominate the chart trade. Bluebacks became so popular that the convention was embraced by chartmakers outside of England, includin.

Very good. Slight centerfold toning. Laid down on old linen. Size 50 x 32.5 Inches. This is John Norie's impressive, large-format 1850 nautical chart of the central Mediterranean Sea, Adriatic Sea, and Ionian Sea, covering the waters around the Italian Peninsula and the North African coasts of Tunisia and Libya. Produced late in the Age of Sail, the chart was both a product of and contributor to increasing British commercial and military dominance of the Mediterranean. A Closer Look The chart covers the Mediterranean and associated seas from Corsica, Sardinia, and eastern Algeria in the west to the Peloponnese (Navarino, now Pylos) and eastern Libya (Cyrene) in the east. Cities and towns, river estuaries, mountains, capes, bays, and other features are labeled all along the coastlines of islands and the mainland of Europe and Africa. Soundings, hazards, bottoms, banks, shoals, reefs, rocks, islets, anchorages, and other essential navigational information are also noted. No fewer than 21 insets appear around the main chart, offering more detailed navigational information on important ports and straits, as well as illustrations of lighthouses where applicable. Many Italian names are used for features in the eastern Adriatic and Ionian Seas, reflecting the enduring influence of the Venetian trading empire on geographic nomenclature (at least in Western Europe) well after its commercial empire had declined. Yellow and red smudges indicate coastal lights and lighthouses, respectively. Few of these were lighthouses in the modern sense of the term. However, the Cape of Carthage Lighthouse near Tunis was state-of-the-art when it was built in 1840, as were the lighthouse at Naples, on the Molo Beverello, built in 1843, and the lighthouse at Trieste (later known as La Lanterna to distinguish it from a 20th-century lighthouse nearby), built in the same era. Several of the lights seen here would be replaced by lighthouses in the following years, as with the light at the Punta de Faro between Sicily and Calabria, near Messina, when the Capo Peloro Lighthouse was built in 1853. Conversely, the simply labeled 'Light' at Genoa is the remarkable Lanterna di Genova, the tallest lighthouse in the world between 1543 and 1902 and still the fifth tallest in the world today. Making the Med a British Lake This map's production by a British hydrographer, presumably for a mostly British audience, reflects the increasing control and even hegemony that British ships enjoyed over the Mediterranean after the Napoleonic Wars (1803 - 1815). Through treaties, the British government established a series of strongholds at Gibraltar, Malta, and the Ionian Islands (and later Cyprus), which would provide the Royal Navy with regular points to regroup and resupply during long voyages. These networks would prove especially important in British interventions or threatened interventions in the eastern Mediterranean at several points in the 19th century, most notably during the Crimean War (1853 - 1856). The British, with help from the French and Americans, had also suppressed the large pirate networks operating in the Mediterranean by the mid-19th century, allowing trade to flow more freely, which became an important boon to the domestic economy. These advantages would accrue even further with the completion of the Suez Canal and the advent of steamships in the following decades. Blueback Charts Blueback nautical charts began appearing in London in the late 18th century. Bluebacks, as they came to be called, were privately published large-format nautical charts known for their distinctive blue paper backing. The backing, a commonly available blue manila paper traditionally used by publishers to wrap unbound pamphlets, was adopted as a practical way to reinforce the low-quality paper used by private chart publishers in an effort to cut costs. That being said, not all blueback charts are literally backed with blue paper. The earliest known blueback charts include a 1760 c.