Hi, Karen--
I did some poking around--lucky Googling, basically--and I think it's a map
from the frontispiece of *Volney's Ruins: Or, Meditation on the Revolutions
of Empires*. The original (*Les Ruines, ou méditations sur les révolutions
des empires*) was written in French in 1791 by Constantin François de
Chassebœuf, comte de Volney and there seem to have been quite a number of
translations available in English in the late 18th c. and throughout the
19th.
I haven't quite found that specific map (I'd wager it comes from a specific
edition), but you can see one very close to it on page 22 of this 1796
edition
<https://archive.org/details/ruinsorsurveyofr01voln/page/n21/mode/2up>.and page
10 of this 1822 edition
<https://archive.org/details/ruins01voln/page/n9/mode/2up>. Titles have
been differently rendered, too, adding to the fun (*The ruins: or A survey
of the revolutions of empires *vs *Volney's Ruins: Or, Meditation on the
Revolutions of Empires*, for instance). I'd think it's safe to presume
we're looking at an English edition since the cardinal directions on the
map are in English.
I noticed, too, that the map you provided has a typo (writo?) in the legend
at #6: Persepolis is rendered as"Pesepolis" -- might be a quick way to help
see if you/we find the right print edition!
Lots of editions to poke through here
<https://archive.org/search?query=ruins+volney>. What a fantastic mystery
for a Saturday morning! 😁
--Eric
______________________________________________________________
[image: Workshop-logo-red-tight-72dpi.jpg]
Eric D. M. Johnson, MA, MSLIS
Head, Innovative Media
Associate Professor
Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries
@ericdmj <http://twitter.com/ericdmj> // 804-828-2802 //
library.vcu.edu/workshop
*Pronouns: he/him/his*
On Fri, Feb 3, 2023 at 5:04 PM Karen D. Miller <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:
> Hello and happy Friday!
>
>
>
> I have been given several folders of maps that our cartographic specialist said
> were taken from atlases. No information about the atlases was given, so
> each one has been an exercise in sleuthing. One particular map has me at my
> wit’s end. It has no title, no statement of responsibility, and no
> publisher’s information. No date, of course.
>
>
>
> I’ve used Google Lens to search images based on a photograph I took of the
> map, with no luck. I’ve browsed through multiple atlas pages on the David
> Rumsey website, also to no avail. I’ve searched on the placenames listed in
> the legend, both in WorldCat and Google, also with no luck.
>
>
>
> I’m wondering if anybody can help me identify this map or at least suggest
> a time frame for the publication date. I’ve resigned myself to creating a
> catalog record with a cataloger-created title and a long description, but
> I’d love to know where this came from and when. I am a general cataloger
> with training in cataloging pre-20th century maps, but I am not an expert
> in maps.
>
>
>
> I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to attach the image, so here’s a
> description. The map is a circle depicting the eastern hemisphere with
> relief shown pictorially. It shows Europe to the north, including “Thule”,
> Scandinavia, and Novaya Zemlya. It shows the entire African continent,
> which extends to the western edge of the circle, and into China on the
> east, just east of Hainan Island, which is depicted as a peninsula. A land
> mass is shown just south of Vietnam, but it is not labeled. Australia is
> not shown.
>
>
>
> The only text outside the map is North, East, South, and West, plus a
> legend that identifies places labeled with numbers on the map. The place
> names are:
>
>
>
> 1. Pyramids
> 2. Gaza
> 3. R. Jordan
> 4. M. Sinai
> 5. Baharen Islands
> 6. Persepolis
> 7. Ecbatana
> 8. Babylon
> 9. Nineveh
> 10. Cassimere
> 11. Crimea
> 12. Constantinople
> 13. La-sa
>
>
>
> I’m going to try to attach the image, but I imagine it will get stripped
> off by the listserv software. I will be more than happy to email it
> off-list!
>
>
>
> Best regards,
>
> Karen
>
>
>
> *Karen D. Miller*
>
> Monographic Cataloger/Metadata Specialist
>
> Northwestern University Libraries
>
> Northwestern University
>
> 1970 Campus Drive
>
> Evanston, IL 60208
>
> www.library.northwestern.edu
>
> [log in to unmask]
>
> 874.467.3462
>
>
>
>
>
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