| | Thumbnail | | Creator | Date | Title / Author / Date / Location | Price | | | Description |
| 1294 |  | Details | Bertelli, Pietro | 1599 |
| Early antique birds-eye plan of Valetta, Malta |
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Bertelli, Pietro |
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| 1599 |
| LOC:4 |
| $575.00 | Bertelli--Pietro | Early-antique-birds-eye-plan-of-Valetta--Malta | A charmingly detailed birds-eye plan of the area around <b>Valletta, Malta</b> which appeared in the scarce first edition of Pietro Bertelli's "Theatrum Urbium Italicarum", Venice, 1599. Features that Bertelli noted by name on the copper-engraved plan include Malta Citta, Castel di S. Angelo, Castel S. Elmo, Borgo S. Angelo, and Borgo S. Michel. Some experts consider this to be "one the earliest obtainable plans of Malta". With a Maltese-cross cartouche and numerous galleys shown in the harbor.
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Produced less than forty years after the Siege of Malta in May 1565, when the Ottoman Empire invaded Malta, then held by the Knights Hospitaller (also known as the Knights of Malta or Knights of Rhodes).
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The years leading up to the Siege in 1565 saw the Islands under constant threat from the Ottoman Turks. In 1551, the Ottomans carried out an audacious raid, which saw most of Gozo's population taken into slavery. In 1559, the Knights responded, but with a disastrous attack on Djerba, the Ottoman stronghold on the Tunisian coast.
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The Knights knew they were vulnerable in Malta despite the harbours and their two forts, St. Angelo, in what is now Vittoriosa, and newly-built St. Elmo, on the open peninsula of Mount Sciberras overlooking the harbours (later known as Grand Harbour and Marsamxett Harbour). The heroic Knights and Maltese citizens stuggled for many weeks and at the beginning of September, the Ottomans were concerned about having to remain in Malta during the winter, with a long supply-line, and their morale began to fade. Long-awaited relief forces appeared at Mellieħa Bay and the Ottoman troops retreated, but not before losing thousands more men. Today Malta's capital Valetta is named after the Knight's Grand Master Jean de la Valette. (<a href="http://www.visitmalta.com/en/great-siege-1565" target="_blank">Internet</a>) |
| 4750 |  | Details | Bertius, Petrus | 1603 |
| 16th century map of Malta |
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Bertius, Petrus |
|
| 1603 |
| LOC:77 |
| $380.00 | Bertius--Petrus | 16th-century-map-of-Malta | Attractive antique copper engraved map of the island of Malta (Melita), by Petrus Bertius. Contains a small vignette of St. Paul's shipwreck on the north of the island.
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From "Tabularum Geographicarum Contractarum Libri Quinque", the finest and most important edition of the "Caert Thresoor", the famous miniature atlas of Barent Langenes, 1598.
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The map is engraved by Petrus Koerius , or Pieter Van Den Keere (1571-1646). Amsterdam: Cornelium Nicolai; Latin edition of 1603. |
| 323 |  | Details | Wagner, Johann Christoph | 1684 |
| Untitled - Maltese galley |
|
Wagner, Johann Christoph |
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| 1684 |
| LOC:0 |
| $0.00 | Wagner--Johann-Christoph | Untitled---Maltese-galley | SOLD<BR> <BR>
Highly decorative, whimsical, rare antique wood-block print of a Maltese galley . This detailed plate shows a galley with 27 oars per side and 5 men to each oar, making it among the largest galleys of its time. Soldier mass on the bow platform above cannon as the oarsmen are motivated by overseers threatening them with long poles. (The union shop-steward is not identified :) . An opportunity to own a plate that was first published in Furttenbach's very scarce 1629 classic of naval architecture "Architectura Navalis" . Early depictions of galleys from Malta are uncommon. <BR> </BR>
Note: Original seller has attributed the source as Wagner's "Delineatio Provinciarum Pannoniae et Imperii Turcici in Oriente Eine Grundrichtige Beschreibung deß ganzen Aufgangs", published in Augsburg 1684. "N1" at upper left. |
| 457 |  | Details | Pontault, Sébastien Beaulieu de | 1694 |
| Combat Naval 1645 |
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Pontault, Sébastien Beaulieu de |
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| 1694 |
| LOC:0 |
| $0.00 | Pontault--Sébastien-Beaulieu-de | Combat-Naval-1645 | SOLD
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Interesting, scarce depiction of the "Action of 28 September 1644" when six Maltese galleys (galère / pl. galères; Fr.) attacked and defeated several sailing vessels of the Ottoman Sultan. This attractive original copperplate engraving contains an elaborate border and garland wrapped with ribbons and a central portrait of Gabrielle Chambres de Boisbaudran, the leader of the Maltese contingent and a Knight of Malta, who was killed in that engagement. From Paris, 1694.
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The engraved battle scene includes the island of Rhodes, Greece in the distance as Christian galleys engage with Greek and Turkish square-rigged sailing vessels. The six galleys depicted include" "La Capitaine de Malte, St. Jean, St. Laurent, St. Joseph, Ste. Marie, and La Victoire.
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The Christian galleys engaged a Ottoman convoy carrying pilgrims bound for Mecca. The Maltese killed many pilgrims and took almost 400 prisoners as slaves including by some reports one of the Sultan's wives and her son. On their voyage home the Maltese stopped in Crete, then a possession of Venice, for a few days. This apparent collusion between the Maltese and Venetians, previously at peace with the Turks, served as a pretense for the Cretan war between the Ottomans, Venice and Malta between 1645 and 1669.
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From the book "Les glorieuses Conquêtes de Louis-le-Grand: ou Recueil, de Plans et Vues des places assiegeés, et de celles ou se sont douneés des batailles…" produced from the drawings of the Sébastien Pontault de Beaulieu (1612-1674). Pontault, a French engineer, is considered to have been the inventor of the art of military topography. |
| 95 |  | Details | Merian, M. | 1707 |
| Pugna nautica inter Melitenses et Turcos in Mari Mediterraneo |
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Merian, M. |
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| 1707 |
| LOC:0 |
| $0.00 | Merian--M- | Pugna-nautica-inter-Melitenses-et-Turcos-in-Mari-Mediterraneo | SOLD.
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Finely engraved and labeled naval battle scene between Maltese galleys and the Ottoman Turks. Although labeled '1645' this detailed copperplate engraving certainly depicts an action on September 28, 1644 between six Maltese galleys and a fleet of Ottoman galleons. The galleys San Lorenzo, Santa Maria, Vittoria and others engaged a Turkish convoy carrying pilgrims bound for Mecca. The Maltese killed many pilgrims and took almost 400 prisoners as slaves including by some reports one of the Sultan's wives and her son.<BR> </BR>
On their voyage home the Maltese stopped in Crete, then a possession of Venice, for a few days. This apparent collusion between the Maltese and Venetians, previously at peace with the Turks, served as a pretense for the Cretan war between the Turks, Venice and Malta between 1645 and 1669. |
| 380 |  | Details | Michelot and Bremond | 1718 |
| Nouvelle Carte de 'lisle de Malthe (Malta) |
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Michelot and Bremond |
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| 1718 |
| LOC:0 |
| $0.00 | Michelot-and-Bremond | Nouvelle-Carte-de--lisle-de-Malthe-(Malta) | SOLD
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Highly desirable antique nautical chart of the eastern Mediterranean islands of Malta ( Malthe ), Gozo ( Goze ), and Comino. The chart is the scarce, folio-sized nautical chart of Malta, Gozo, and Comino by French galley pilot Henry Michelot and Laurens Bremond dated 1718: "Nouvelle Carte de 'lisle de Malthe… ".
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A unique feature of this antique chart is the spouting sea serpent, not found on any of the other 17 charts by Michelot and Bremond, <a style=rel="nofollow" href= "/MichelotBremondBackground.aspx">Marseilles based cartographers</a> associated with the French Galley Service- the 'Corps des Galeres'.
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Contains rhumb lines, two decorative compass roses and a large inset of the port of Valetta. Adorned with a decorative cartouche of unclothed captive Muslim slaves and numerous cannon, flags and other martial symbols. Contains extensive interior detail of towns, villages, hills, aqueducts, and defenses. |
| 630 |  | Details | Roux, Joseph | 1764 |
| Plan of Valletta Malta by Joseph Roux |
|
Roux, Joseph |
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| 1764 |
| LOC:4 |
| $385.00 | Roux--Joseph | Plan-of-Valletta-Malta-by-Joseph-Roux | Beautifully hand-colored mid 18th-century antique nautical chart and plan of Valetta, Malta ( Malthe ). Plate 75. <BR> </BR>
There were at least four small atlases of port and coastal charts that originated from Marseille hydrographers in the 18th century. Beginning in approximately 1727 these atlases included works by cartographers
<a rel="nofollow" href= "/MichelotBremondBackground.aspx"> Michelot and Bremond</a>,
<a rel="nofollow" href= "/Creator/Ayrouard--Jacques"> Jacques Ayrouard</a>,
<a rel="nofollow" href= "/Creator/Roux--Joseph"> Joseph Roux</a>
, and Jean Allezard. This small original chart is from the atlas of Mediterranean ports produced by Joseph Roux - "Recueil des Principaux Plans des Ports et Rades de la Mer Méditerranée". |
| 5195 |  | Details | Heather, William | 1810 |
| Scarce Port Plan of The Harbor of St. Paul in Malta |
|
Heather, William |
|
| 1810 |
| LOC:77 |
| $325.00 | Heather--William | Scarce-Port-Plan-of-The-Harbor-of-St--Paul-in-Malta | Plan of the harbor of St. Paul, Malta in the Mediterranean Sea. Scarce. Published by William Heather in the New Mediterranean Pilot, 1810. Other sources attribute the port plan to Allezard or Roux but text is in English, thus not a French product; also the compass rose title cartouche is a distinctive diagnostic feature of William Heather.
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Manuscript notation in an unknown script similar to Persian.
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Heather's port plan of St. Paul shows Salt Bay, Point Chaura, Salmonetta, several watchtowers, a lighthouse, anchorages and a mosque. Below the "small harbor" a hilltop village is labeled "Redemption". |
| 1108 |  | Details | Steam Tug Agency | 1856 |
| Rate Sheet and Invoice for Maltese Steam Tug Dragon |
|
Steam Tug Agency |
|
| 1856 |
| LOC:0 |
| $260.00 | Steam-Tug-Agency | Rate-Sheet-and-Invoice-for-Maltese-Steam-Tug-Dragon | Fascinating piece of mid-nineteenth century Maltese maritime history. Tugboat rate sheet with manuscript invoice for towing services performed by the steam tug "Dragon". The Dragon was a 40 horsepower paddle-wheel steam tug operating out of the port of Valetta, Malta, then a part of the British Empire.
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…. "the arrival of steam propulsion opened a new chapter in the history of Maltese maritime trade. The port of Valletta became an important bunkering station and this position was further strengthened with the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869.<br>
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The ‘Dragon’ was one of the earliest steam tugboats operating in the Grand Harbour and Marsamxett. She
arrived at Malta from Newcastle early in December 1855 and on arrival she was immediately placed in service under the command of Captain William Donkin. A circular distributed to the commercial community by the owners of the ‘Dragon’ makes interesting reading. ( First International Merchant Bank 2002 Annual Report. <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=6&ved=0ahUKEwjY7uSp9s_NAhXC5CYKHW1kCl4QFgguMAU&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fimbank.com%2Ffile.aspx%3Ff%3D654&usg=AFQjCNFNxUU_FaX6kLpA-GcOiolsVGSm6g&sig2=K9DkC_MLyepdArQHbbV5WQ&cad=rja " target="_blank">Internet</a>
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<em>"NOTICE TO SHIPMASTERS
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The steam Tug "Dragon" tows vessels in and out and about the ports of Valetta at the following rates: …<br>
…<br>
… The signal to be used by vessels coming from seaward or in port requiring the tug's services will be to hoist the national ensign at the fore topgallant or royal mast head. Special services subject to agreement with John C. Swift, ship-chandler Malta or Capt. William Donkin on board."</em> |