E189 - Africa According to Mr. D'Anville - 1772 v2
A remarkable and very large 4-sheet map of Africa with extensive annotations. It is called Africa According to Mr. D'Anville (with the help of Robert Sayer -mine). Several Additions & Improvements, with a particular Chart of the Gold Coast, wherein are distinguished all the European Forts, Factories, The Whole Illustrated . . . 1772.
48 x 41 inches
The map is a combination mostly of known information, with blank areas within the interior where non-native explorers had not yet penetrated. Deepest Africa remained an enigma well into the 19th century. Unlike their predecessors, D'Anville and Sayer combine a decorative cartouche and sailing ships with a more or less scientific depiction of Africa. They choose not to fill in unknown areas of the continent with placeholders, such as pictorials used by other cartographers.
This map was issued on the cusp of a number of attempts by Europeans to explore the interior of the continent, and especially to attempt to find the beginning and drainage into the ocean of known rivers for navigation and possible settlement around. Before the late 18th century, only Arab merchants and explorers had dared venture there, and their stories are few, in part because some journeys predate printing, but also because of fatal outcomes.
The map includes trading routes, European and local trading posts, and a host of other contemporary details. Hand colored in outline.
