SOUTHERN COROMANDEL INDIA 1786 SCHRAEMBL UNUSUAL ANTIQUE COPPER ENGRAVED MAP

Koromandel Verfasst von Herr d'Anville Neu herausgegeben von Hern F. A. Schræmbl.

Description: Striking and highly detailed fine unusual 1786 copper engraved map focusing on the Coromandel Coast of India, a region known for its historical significance in trade and colonial interactions. The coast is carefully detailed, with numerous settlements, rivers, and geographical features marked. The style is utilitarian, emphasizing accuracy and detail over artistic embellishment, reflecting the Enlightenment era's focus on scientific and empirical approaches to knowledge.
 
Notable Features:
 
- Inscriptions: The map includes inscriptions in German, indicating it was intended for a German-speaking audience. The title block prominently credits D'Anville, a renowned French cartographer, and Schraembl, who updated and republished the work.
 
- Geographical Details: The map shows the coastline with a high degree of precision, including towns, rivers, and roads. The inclusion of a compass rose and a detailed grid system suggests its use for navigational purposes.
 
- Scale and Orientation: The scale of 1:785,000 allows for detailed representation of the region, suitable for both scholarly and navigational uses.
 
Cultural and Historical Context:
 
The Coromandel Coast was a significant area during the period of European colonial expansion in India. It was a hub for trade, especially in textiles, and saw interactions between various colonial powers, including the British, Dutch, and French. This map would have been valuable for understanding the geography of the region, aiding in navigation and the planning of economic and military activities.
 
Significance:
 
This map is part of a broader effort in the late 18th and early 19th centuries to compile and disseminate geographic knowledge on a global scale. It reflects the period's cartographic advancements and the increasing importance of accurate maps for exploration, trade, and colonial administration. The collaboration between D'Anville and Schraembl highlights the cross-cultural exchanges in scientific knowledge during this era.
 
In summary, this map is a testament to the detailed cartographic work of its time, serving both practical and scholarly purposes within the context of European colonial interests in India.
 
Source: Schraembl, K. A., Allgemeiner Grosser Atlas, (Vienna: Phil. Jos. Schalbacher) 1800.    

The Allgemeiner Grosser Atlas, alternatively titled Allgemeiner Grosser Schrämblischer Atlass, is considered the first Austrian commercial Atlas. It is a massive elephant folio atlas published in 1800 by Franz Anton Schrämbl (Schraembl; 1751 - 1803). The atlas drew from the best and most up-to-date cartographic information available, including the works of J. B. B. D'Anville (1697 - 1782) and James Rennel (1742 - 1830), and explorers such as James Cook (1728 - 1779), and Charles Roberts (1739 - 1825), among many others. It was published in Vienna by Phillip Joseph Schalbacher. The atlas was large and expensive, and as such, was of minimal commercial success and had a low circulate - leading to its considerable rarity today. It is believed that the atlas's slow sales and high production costs drove Schrämbl into insolvency by the time of his death in 1803.

Date: 1788 ( dated )

Dimension: Paper size approx.: cm 54,2 x 52,6 

Condition: Very strong and dark impression on good paper. Paper with chains and wiremarks. Map old original colored. Wide margins. Small moisture signs. Map washed. Map folded. Conditions are as you can see in the images.

Mapmakers: Franz Anton Schrämbl (Schraembl; 1751 - December 13, 1803) was a Vienna-based cartographer working in the later part of the 18th century. Schrämbl was born in Vienna. He became director of the normal school in Troppau but soon quit to set up a bookshop in Vienna. In 1787, with fellow Austrian Franz Johann Joseph von Reilly (1766 - 1820), he founded a publishing firm. He began his great work, the Allgemeiner Grosser Atlas, in the same year. This ambitious large format atlas was to be based upon only the most up-to-date cartographic information available, among them cartographers J. B. B. D'Anville (1697 - 1782) and James Rennel (1742 - 1830), and explorers such as James Cook (1728 - 1779), Charles Roberts (1739 - 1825), and others. The atlas was published in 1800 and became the first Austrian commercial world atlas. The work experienced minimal circulation, possibly due to its high cost. The low sales nearly drove Schrämbl into insolvency, but he recovered through diversification into literature and art books. When Franz Anton died in 1803, his widow Johanna and her brother, the engraver Karl Robert Schindelmayer (1769 - 1839), assumed control of the firm. In 1825, his son, Eduard Schrämbl, took over.

Jean-Baptiste Bourguignon d’Anville (1697-1782) was one of the foremost French geographers of the eighteenth century. He carried out rigorous research in order to create his maps, which greatly developed the technical proficiency of mapmaking during his lifetime. His style was also simpler and less ornate than that of many of his predecessors. It was widely adopted by his contemporaries and successors.
 
The son of a tailor, d’Anville showed cartographic prowess from a young age; his first map, of Ancient Greece, was published when he was only fifteen years old. By twenty-two, he was appointed as one of the King’s géographes ordinaire de roi. He tutored the young Louis XV while in the service to the Crown. However, royal appointment did not pay all the bills, so d’Anville also did some work for the Portuguese Crown from 1724. For example, he helped to fill out Dom João V’s library with geographical works and made maps showing Portugal’s African colonies. 
 
D’Anville disapproved of merely copying features from other maps, preferring instead to return to the texts upon which those maps were based to make his own depictions. This led him to embrace blank spaces for unknown areas and to reject names which were not supported by other sources. He also amassed a large personal map library and created a network of sources that included Jesuits in China and savants in Brazil. D’Anville’s historical approach to cartography resulted in magnificently detailed, yet modern and academic, maps. For example, his 1743 map of Italy improved upon all previous maps and included a memoir laying out his research and innovations. The geographer also specialized in ancient historical geography.
 
In 1773, d’Anville was named premier géographe de roi. In 1780, he ceded his considerable library to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to be used for as a reference library for diplomats. D’Anville is best known for several maps, including his map of China, first published in 1735, and then included with Du Halde’s history of that country (the Hague, 1737). His map of Africa (1749) was used well into the nineteenth century.