In 1838 and 1839, Roberts spent eleven months traveling and sketching throughout Egypt from Alexandria to Abu Simbel and through Sinai to Petra, Jerusalem, Palestine, and Lebanon. The 247 lithographs that Belgian engraver Louis Haghe then produced at the rate of one a month from the drawings executed during Roberts’ trip were published in six volumes as “The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt and Nubia” (1842-1846) and “Egypt and Nubia” (1846-1849).

While these are available elsewhere, they are not usually very large or in an easy to use format (or they cost money).  These are from the Library of Congress, which has them in unedited TIF files.  I have cropped them , edited them, cleaned up any glaring dirtiness, and converted them to JPEG for easy download in the GALLERY.

Title: Egypt and Nubia
and: The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt and Nubia
Author: David Roberts
Artist: David Roberts / lithographed by Louis Haghe
Publisher: F.G. (Francis Graham) Moon
Date Published: 1846-1849

Click an image to visit the gallery page where it is available in different sized for free download.

Dancing Girls at Cairo

Mosque of Sultan Hassan from the Great Square of the Rumeyleh

Cairo

Tombs of the khalifs, Cairo

Karnac Nov 29th 1838

General view of the island of Philae Nubia Nov 18th 1838

General view of the ruins of Luxor from the Nile 1838

Interior of the Temple of Aboo-Simbel Novr 9th 1838 Nubia

Portico of the Temple of Edfou--upper Egypt Novr 23rd 1838

Entrance to the Great Temple of Aboo-Simble, Nubia (TITLE PAGE)

The Coffee Shop, Cairo

The images here on OBA are free and sufficient for most web purposes.  To license much larger images of these and/or similar world maps for editorial or other purposes go to:  www.alamy.com/lbx.asp?1087656

Each map image below leads to the OBA gallery page for that map.  The main OBA album is HERE.

Oronce Fine, 1531, Noua, et Integra Uniuersi Orbis Descriptio

A very interesting double hemisphere with polar projections. Terra Australis dominates the south pole, while the Americas are very undefined.

Fernando Bertelli, 1565, Universale Descrittione di Tutta la Terra Conosciuta Fin Qui

Two wind heads adorn the upper corners. The continental edges are jagged and undefined, and North America is shown as almost wholly contiguous with Asia. Sea monsters and ships roam the oceans.

Jodocus Hondius, 1595, Vera Totius Expeditionis Nauticæ, With Routes of Sir Francis Drake and Thomas Cavendish

Decorative details, insets, ships, windheads and other great images adorn the margins of this double hemisphere map.

Philipp Eckebrecht, 1630, Noua Orbis Terrarum: Delineatio Singulari Ratione Accommodata meridiano tabb

A large crowned double-headed eagle is the backdrop for this interesting map. The African/European Hemisphere sits in the middle, with the American/Pacific hemisphere split in two.

Frederick de Wit, 1660, Nova totius terrarum orbis tabula

Very colorful borders and decoration make this a beautiful map. Gods and charts of the heavens and zodiacal images line the top margin, while insets of the poles and nature scenes line the bottom. All over, grapes and vines hang in the spaces and margins. California is an island and Australia (New Holland) is not even a full outline.

Joan Blaeu, 1664, Nova et Accuratissima Totius Terrarum Orbis Tabula

People and beasts line the bottom while the heavens and gods stretch above this double-hemisphere. California is an island and Australia (New Holland) is not even a full outline.

Guillaume de L’Isle, 1690, Mappa Totius Mundi Adornata juxta Observationes Dnn. Academiæ Regalis Scientiarum et nonnullorum aliorum, secundum annotationes recentissimas

Insets of the poles and a decorative cartouche adorn the top of this double hemisphere. North America just sort of stops at a random meridian.

Nicolao Visscher, 1690 (circa), Orbis Terrarum Nova et Accuratissima Tabula

Beautiful dark images of gods and angels adorn the corners, with polar projections set between eh hemispheres. California is an island and Australia (New Holland) is very ill defined.

Alexis Hubert Jaillot, 1694, Nova Orbis Tabula, ad usum serenissimi Burgundiæ Ducis

Nicely colored with detailed scenes around the margins. California and Australia (New Holland) show the usual errors for the period.

George Willdey, 1702, A New and Correct Map of the World, Laid down according to the Newest Observations & Discoveries In several different Projections: Including ye Trade Winds Monsoons Variation of the Compass, and Illustrated with a Coelestial Planisphere, the various systems of Ptolomy, Copernicus, and Tycho Brahe.  Together with ye Apearances of the Planets &c.

Lots of insets and details make this a useful periods map. Many maps and charts of the heavens and constellations also are along the margins.

Jean Baptiste Nolin, 1708, Le Globe Terrestre Représenté en Deux Plans-Hémisphères: dressé sur la projection de Mr. de la Hyre de l’Académie Royale des Sciences, et sur plusieurs routiers et mémoires des plus habiles pilotes et savans voyageurs le tout rectifié et calculé selon les dernières observations, et dédié à Mgr. l’Abbé Bignon, conseiller d’état ordinaire / par son très humble et très obéissant serviteur I. B. Nolin, géographe ordinaire du Roi ; le Sr. Bocquet, pientre, a inventé et gravé les subjets qui accompagne ce planisphère

Each hemisphere is supported by two struggling figures. This, along with the very nice backdrop of stars and celestial figures makes this a wonderful map. A lot of details and insets along the upper edge as well.

Johann Baptist Homann, 1716, Planiglobii terrestris cum utroq hemisphærio cælesti generalis repræsentatio

A very colorful map. Celestial maps are inset. Windheads, astronomical and terrestrial scenes, and other details form the backdrop. Some text in Latin.

Guillaume de L’Isle, 1720, Mappemonde a l’usage du roy

Nice, basic contrasting colors and a sparse background make this a pretty little map.

Carington Bowles, 1780, Bowles’s New and Accurate Map of the World, or Terrestrial Globe: laid down from the best observations and newest discoveries particularly those lately made in the south seas by Anson, Byron, Wallis, Bouganville, Cook, and other celebrated circumnavigators, illustrated with a variety of useful projections and representations of the heavenly bodies the most approved astronomical and geographical definitions tables, and problems with an easy and familiar explanation of the most curious and interesting phoenomena in the universal system

Intricately designed and exhaustively detailed, this map packs as much contemporary information about the cosmos as the cartographer could manage. Celestial maps of the constellations, a map of the moon, paths of the comets, an explanation of the seasons, and much more.

William Faden, 1786, Western New World or Hemisphere. Eastern Old World or Hemisphere. With Captain Cook’s Voyages

Published as two sheets, I have edited them to join them as one.

Thomas Kitchen, 1799, A New Map of the World

Nicely colored with good detail. Nice margin details of the solar system and planets.

Robert Laurie and James Whittle, 1808, A New Map of The World, with Captain Cook’s Tracks, His Discoveries, and those of the Other Circumnavigators, from: A new and elegant imperial sheet atlas, comprehending general and particular maps of every part of the world : principally compiled from the great French atlas, and others of the most distinguished geographers in Europe, forming the completest collection of single sheet maps hitherto published and rendered particularly convenient by opening without folds.

A beautiful double-hemisphere map with elaborate border decorations and cartouches. Palm trees adorn the upper corners and laurel leaves are on the center bottom.

Sebastian Munster, 1560, Typus Orbis Universalis

Available in larger format than many others.

1914 Japanese World Map

Available in very large format.

Oldenburg’s images are not the highest quality. For about 20 euros they will sell you a CD of a title with higher resolution images, which is not a bad deal if you need (or want) them. Most books available for free online will yield usable images of between 800 and 1500 pixels, though, so many people will be perfectly happy with what is available. The images are dirty rough though, and need a lot of cleaning. I here have pulled the images from this 1876 guide to mushrooms. In the GALLERY I have posted two versions of each image: the original and then a copy I have played with to remove the age toning and brighten and sharpen th colors. The originals were not great, so the results are spotty and not great quality, but they give a good idea of what you can find in the Oldenburg archives if you root around. All are cropped to remove the waste area.

Remember, these are artistic renderings from a 130 year old book, so do not use the names or the pictures as a guide to what is or is not edible.

Title: Allgemein verbreitete eßbare und schädliche Pilze mit einigen mikroskopischen Zergliederungen und erläuterndem Text zum Gebrauche in Schule und Haus
Author: Wilhelm von Ahles
Artist: ?
Publisher: Schreiber (?)
Date Published: 1876

The full book is available at the UNIVERSITY OF OLDENBURG

Edited versions of the images are here in the GALLERY.

Following are a few samples of the images:

Agaricus arvensis

Agaricus campestris

Agaricus deliciosus

Agaricus emeticus

Smaller collections such as Michigan State University’s are often more focussed, and when you are lucky they even offer good sized images. I say “smaller” when in fact, to quote their website:

“The Map Library houses a collection of general and thematic maps and atlases for every area of the world. The collection consists of approximately 212,000 sheet maps, 14,000 folded geologic maps, and 4,000 atlases, gazetteers and other reference aids including wall maps, globes, CDs and Internet-accessible resources. The collection is especially strong in Michigan, United States, Canada, Africa, Asia, and Latin America, though all areas are collected at some level. Specialized collections include 19th-21st century Michigan county atlases and plat books; a small Braille map and atlas collection of U.S. states and continents; and Michigan Flood Insurance Rate Maps. The sheet map collection includes maps from the 17th to 21st centuries. A major portion of the sheet map collection consists of United States Geological Survey and U.S. Department of Defense products received through government depository programs. Many foreign topographic maps series are also collected, acquired by purchase and through Library of Congress map exchange programs. Other maps include foreign and domestic city and road maps, and maps from magazine subscriptions such as Petroleum Economist and National Geographic. Most supplementary maps from books in the Main Library are also housed in the Map Library.”

Too frequently when you discover a good archive all you can see are small thumbnails, or zoomable images which cannot be downloaded. Here though, although only a miniscule portion is digitized, those maps that are available are great quality and offered as a quick download in JPEG format as a link on the zoomable Zoomify Viewer page. This is the kind of user friendly map page that I wish more collections would offer.

I came across their Online Map Collection when I was cataloging and uploading my own African maps from various atlases. Following are some samples from their African collection. I have somewhat smaller images here, but on their site you can get them at their full scale.

Map of Africa, Mitchell 1867

Africa, J. H. Colton 1876

Afrique (Africa), Lamirault 1886

Afrika Politische Übersicht (Africa - Political Overview), Meyers 1892

Aquatorial-Afrika (Equatorial Africa), Meyers 1892

Ober-Guinea und West-Sudan (Upper Guinea and Wester Sudan), Meyers 1892

Algerien, Marokko und Tunis (Algeria, Morocco and Tunis - Tunisia), Meyers 1892

Agyptenin Darfur und Abessinien (Egypt Darfur and Abyssinia), Meyers 1892

Map of Africa, I. F. Andreevskago 1890

Map of Africa, I. F. Andreevskago 1890

Africa Population, J. G. Bartholomew 1913 / J. M. Dent & Sons

Africa Religions & Missions, J. G. Bartholomew 1913 / J. M. Dent & Sons

Africa - Political, J. G. Bartholomew / Meiklejohn 1922