Torr Antiques & Decorative Arts

Description

This is a rare miniature map of Tartaria from John Speed's "A Prospect of the Most Famous Parts of the World" published in London in 1646 with further editions up to 1675. These atlases are known as 'miniature Speeds' and the maps were engraved by Peter Van Den Keere (Petrus Kaerius).

Tartary (Latin: Tartaria) or Great Tartary (Latin: Tartaria Magna) was a name used by Europeans from the Middle Ages until the twentieth century to designate the Great Steppe, that is the great tract of northern and central Asia stretching from the Caspian Sea and the Ural Mountains to the Pacific Ocean inhabited mostly by Turkic, Mongol peoples and also by some Cossacks of Russian origin, citizens of the Mongol Empire who were generically referred to as "Tartars", i.e. Tatars. It incorporated the current areas of Siberia, Turkestan, Mongolia, and Manchuria.

This little map contains a surprising level of detail: the Great Wall of China, Korea (Coreains) as an island, the Caspian Sea, the northern coast including the island of Novaya Zemlya with "the huys (house) of William Barents", Alaska all shown.

Dimensions: Paper - 13.3 x 9.7 cm

Condition: This map has been professionally cleaned without losing its early hand-colouring. Its a crisp dark impression on robust hand laid paper. John Speed's English text verso.

Postage & packing: £3 within the UK. Please contact us for a quote to send to an international destination.