Cartography and Narrative in the Maps of Herman Moll’s The World Described

Herman Moll (c. 1654-1732) was the most renowned cartographer in early 18th-century Britain and his large double-sheet atlas, The World Described, first published in 1709 and expanded during Moll’s lifetime and even after his death, was the most important folio atlas of its day. While historians lik...

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Main Author: Alex Zukas
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Société d'Etudes Anglo-Américaines des XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles 2021-12-01
Series:XVII-XVIII
Subjects:
Online Access:http://journals.openedition.org/1718/8764
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author Alex Zukas
author_facet Alex Zukas
author_sort Alex Zukas
collection DOAJ
description Herman Moll (c. 1654-1732) was the most renowned cartographer in early 18th-century Britain and his large double-sheet atlas, The World Described, first published in 1709 and expanded during Moll’s lifetime and even after his death, was the most important folio atlas of its day. While historians like Dennis Reinhartz have discussed the presence of Moll’s maps in encyclopedic geography texts like Atlas Geographus as well as buccaneer narratives like William Dampier’s A Voyage Round the World and Woodes Rogers’ A Cruising Voyage Round the World and fictional texts like Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe and Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels, they have not discussed to any extent how narrative was an integral part of Moll’s maps in The World Described. Numerous notations and comments, along with images, insets, and views, established a narrative framework for reading Moll’s maps which were clearly entangled with the scientific, artistic, political, diplomatic, military, and economic concerns of his day. This article examines the interplay of line, word, and image in selected Moll maps and explains how they combined appeals to scientific accuracy, profitable enterprise, and national good to form a narrative in support of British imperial endeavor that foregrounded British foreign economic, political, and territorial interests in an age of fierce imperial rivalries.
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spelling doaj.art-29573a22d22945c4abdca2b2d4c82b592022-12-21T19:24:24ZengSociété d'Etudes Anglo-Américaines des XVIIe et XVIIIe sièclesXVII-XVIII0291-37982117-590X2021-12-017810.4000/1718.8764Cartography and Narrative in the Maps of Herman Moll’s The World DescribedAlex ZukasHerman Moll (c. 1654-1732) was the most renowned cartographer in early 18th-century Britain and his large double-sheet atlas, The World Described, first published in 1709 and expanded during Moll’s lifetime and even after his death, was the most important folio atlas of its day. While historians like Dennis Reinhartz have discussed the presence of Moll’s maps in encyclopedic geography texts like Atlas Geographus as well as buccaneer narratives like William Dampier’s A Voyage Round the World and Woodes Rogers’ A Cruising Voyage Round the World and fictional texts like Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe and Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels, they have not discussed to any extent how narrative was an integral part of Moll’s maps in The World Described. Numerous notations and comments, along with images, insets, and views, established a narrative framework for reading Moll’s maps which were clearly entangled with the scientific, artistic, political, diplomatic, military, and economic concerns of his day. This article examines the interplay of line, word, and image in selected Moll maps and explains how they combined appeals to scientific accuracy, profitable enterprise, and national good to form a narrative in support of British imperial endeavor that foregrounded British foreign economic, political, and territorial interests in an age of fierce imperial rivalries.http://journals.openedition.org/1718/8764Cartography; imperialism; East and West Indies; Herman Moll; narrative; world maps
spellingShingle Alex Zukas
Cartography and Narrative in the Maps of Herman Moll’s The World Described
XVII-XVIII
Cartography; imperialism; East and West Indies; Herman Moll; narrative; world maps
title Cartography and Narrative in the Maps of Herman Moll’s The World Described
title_full Cartography and Narrative in the Maps of Herman Moll’s The World Described
title_fullStr Cartography and Narrative in the Maps of Herman Moll’s The World Described
title_full_unstemmed Cartography and Narrative in the Maps of Herman Moll’s The World Described
title_short Cartography and Narrative in the Maps of Herman Moll’s The World Described
title_sort cartography and narrative in the maps of herman moll s the world described
topic Cartography; imperialism; East and West Indies; Herman Moll; narrative; world maps
url http://journals.openedition.org/1718/8764
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