Antique Map of Mosul, Kirkuk and Samarra, Niebuhr, 1780

An original antique copper engraved map, published in 1780, of the Tigris country from MOSUL in the north down to Samârra. No title is engraved in the margin of this sheet.

The Tigris, lettered Tiger Fl., runs from the upper left down the sheet past MOSUL, Nimrud, Tekrîd and Samârra. From the right two tributaries come in, lettered De Groote Zab and De Kleine Zab, the Great and Little Zab. East of the river stand Arbîl, Altûn Kupri, Koi Sandsjak, Kerkûk and Tauk v. Dakûk, with the route between them drawn as a dotted line. Mountain ranges are hachured in long bands at the upper left and across the lower part of the sheet, and tribal names such as Taiibin, Âlbuhössein and Hadidîn are lettered across the open country west of the river. At the lower left a panel headed Latitudo Locorum gives latitudes for Tänkscha, Kerkûk, Arbîl and Mosul, above a scale lettered Schaale van 10 Duitsche Mylen and Echelle de 10 Miles d'Allemagne. A compass rose is engraved at the upper right and latitude scales run down both side borders.

The plate number Tab. XLV. is engraved at the upper right, and the credit C. H. K. f. is lettered below the lower left corner.

The plate comes from the second volume of Carsten Niebuhr's Voyage en Arabie & en d'autres Pays circonvoisins, Tome Second, the French translation printed at Amsterdam by S. J. Baalde and at Utrecht by Barthelemy Wild, with the title page dated MDCCLXXX. Carsten Niebuhr (1733 to 1815) was a German born surveyor in Danish service and the only member of the Danish expedition to Arabia (1761 to 1767), sent by King Frederick V of Denmark, to return alive. The account was first published in German at Copenhagen; this is the French translation printed in Amsterdam and Utrecht.

Light uneven toning, browner toward the edges. Handling soiling along the right edge. A few small foxing spots in the margin. All four corners are present. Several larger brown marks.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.