European Expansion

This section contains maps of Europe and European expansion across the globe in the centuries before 1820.

During this period, it became common for men of influence across Europe to amass significant map collections for their personal edification and enjoyment. This is why so many maps survive in these two historic Irish libraries.

R1.2.23 The World.jpg
Abraham Ortelius, Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (Antwerp, 1571).
Virginia
Theodore de Bry, America pars quarta (Frankfurt am Main, 1594).
J.1.14 China.jpg
Martino Martini, Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, sive Novus Atlas, pars sexta ([Amsterdam], [1655]).
Map of the Spanish Netherlands
Laurence Echard, Flanders, or the Spanish Netherlands, most accurately described (London, 1692).
J.1.18 The World.jpg
Joanne Baptista Nicolosio, Hercules Siculus, sive Studium Geographicum (Rome, 1670).
China
Nouvel Atlas de la Chine (The Hague, 1737).
The World
Guillaume de L'Isle, Atlas Nouveau, Contenant Toutes Les Parties Du Monde, 2 vols, (Amsterdam, 1740).
Louisburg, North America
James Gibson, A Journal of the Late Siege By The Troops From North America, Against The French At Cape Breton (London, 1745).
North Western Europe
Jean-Baptiste Bourguignon D'Anville, Atlas (Paris, 1750).
The Gulf of Mexico
The West-India Atlas: or, A Compendious Description of the West-Indies (London, 1775).
North America
Thomas Jefferys, The American Atlas (London, 1776)
Captain Cook's Voyages
John Webber, Maps and Plates to Cook's Voyages (London, 1779).
North West America
Charts and Engravings of Captain George Vancouver's Expeditions (London, 1798).
North Africa
Mungo Park, Travels In The Interior Districts Of Africa (London, 1799).
Northern Netherlands
Captain Chauchard, A General Map of the Empire Of Germany, Holland, The Netherlands, Switzerland, The Grisons, Italy, Sicily, Corsica and Sardinia (London, 1800).
The World
A New General Atlas of the Globe And A Collection Of Maps And Charts of the Empires Kingdoms And States of the World (Edinburgh, 1817).