Antique Map of the Country around Tor, Niebuhr Engraving, 1776

This is an original antique copper engraved map from 1776, plate LII of the first volume of Carsten Niebuhr's Voyage en Arabie. The caption below the map reads De Streek omtrent Tor. in Dutch and Les Environs de Tôr. in French, meaning the country around Tor.

The map shows a stretch of coast running down the sheet, with the sea on the right and land on the left. A broad band of mountains, drawn in heavy hachure, fills the left side. Between the mountains and the shore lies a plain dotted with palm trees and small buildings, grouped in settlements lettered Dsjebêel, Kallá et Tôr, Schadlîe, Belled en Nassara and Monasterium. Near the lower part of the map the coast curves out into a bay, and a long shoal marked with crosses inside a dotted line runs offshore. Rhumb lines radiate across the sea from a compass point with a fleur-de-lis, and a depth figure is engraved near the shoal. Wavy lines along the shore mark the shallow water.

The lower right corner below the map is lettered T. K. f., the engraver's initials, and the plate number Tab. LII. is engraved at the upper right.

The plate belongs to the first volume of Niebuhr's Voyage en Arabie & en d'autres Pays circonvoisins, marked TOME PREMIER and Traduit de l'Allemand on its title page, which carries the imprint of S. J. Baalde at Amsterdam and J. van Schoonhoven and Comp. at Utrecht and the date MDCCLXXVI. 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 bottom and right edges. Scattered light foxing in the margin. Slight wear at the bottom right corner. Minor edge wear, shallow nicks along the right.

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