Preview
Identifier
20086432
Description
Colorful map of Africa and its surrounding islands, published by Heinrich Scherer. Neighboring regions of southern Europe, Arabia, central Asia, and India included for geographical context. Influence of Christian religion and missionization is emphasized throughout map. Colorful crucifixion scene depicted in bottom left corner, of "Inri" or Jesus of Nazareth. Cartographer includes local inhabitants and missionaries within crucifixion scene. Two map keys featured in Latin text, located beneath. Map represents the state of geographic knowledge (or lack thereof) in the beginning of the 18th century. Africa presented with fairly accurate coastline. Most of interior however is entirely fictional, with Scherer creating his own complex and unique, albeit inaccurate, river system. Landforms and waterways are intensely depicted. Nile is shown with source deriving from large southern lakes of Zaflan and Zembre. The Zembre, labeled Lac Zaire, also spawns the Congo and Zaire Rivers. Locations of Catholic churches and missions are prominently shown. Surrounding oceans feature a variety of sea creatures, and large sailing ship with flag representing a cross symbol, located within the Indian Ocean (to the right). Decorative title cartouche located in top right corner. Without border scale or measurements. Hachures depicted off coast(s). Double-paged, single-sided, horizontal map on laid paper. Centrefold as issued. Without binding. 26 cm. x 38 cm. [Gift of Dr. Jack Franke]
Archival Date
1710
Collection Name
Maps of Africa
Collection Number
Acc. 2019-163
Language
Latin
Original Format
Maps
File Format
JPG
Rights
Rights held by The University of Texas at Arlington Libraries, Special Collections. Any use of content downloaded or printed from this page is limited to non-commercial personal or educational use, including fair use as directed by U.S. copyright laws. For more information or for reproduction requests, please contact UTA Special Collections by emailing spcoref@uta.edu.
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Subjects
Maps; Africa; Mountains; Oceans; Illustrations; Missions; Christianity; Catholicism; Cartouches (Graphic)