Brobdingnag by Jonathan Swift. Gulliver's Travels. California Canada 1751 map

CAPTION PRINTED BELOW PICTURE: Brobdingnag [The West coast of North America - Gulliver's Travels]

One of the earliest fantasy maps ever published depicts Brobdingnag, a fictional land featured in the second part of Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels (first published in 1726). Brobdingnag is inhabited by giants, about twelve times the size of ordinary humans. Swift’s map places Brobdingnag on the western coast of North America, as a large peninsula, roughly in present-day British Columbia. The map names (from south to north) Point Monterey, Port Sir Francis Drake (Drake's Bay, just north of San Francisco), Cape Mendocino, Cape St. Sebastian, Cape Blanco, all locations on the Pacific coast of North America, and the mythical Strait of Anian (which appeared on European maps between the 16th and the 18th centuries), with Brobdingnag as a peninsula extending west into the Pacific to the north of the Straits. No latitude or longitude is specified in the text, but the map clearly situates it outside known areas of European exploration. Scholars have noted that the improbable location and scale of Brobdingnag satirise exaggerated geographic claims in contemporary travel literature. Although the map is unattributed, it is speculated that Herman Moll, a well-known cartographer and friend of Swift, may have influenced its design, as Moll is directly referenced in the book. The maps were only included in the early editions of the book.

DATE PRINTED: 1751    

IMAGE SIZE: Approx 17.0 x 9.0cm, 6.5 x 3.5 inches (Small)

TYPE: Antique copperplate fantasy parody map

CONDITION: Good; suitable for framing. Please check the scan for any blemishes prior to making your purchase. Please contact us if you would like to arrange to view this map. Virtually all antiquarian maps and prints are subject to some normal aging due to use and time which is not obtrusive unless otherwise stated. We offer a no questions asked return policy.

AUTHENTICITY: This is an authentic historic print, published at the date stated above. It is not a modern copy.

VERSO: There is nothing printed on the reverse side, which is plain

ARTIST/CARTOGRAPHER/ENGRAVER: Jonathan Swift

PROVENANCE: "Travels into several remote nations of the world. In four parts.", by Lemuel Gulliver, first a surgeon, and then a captain of several ships. The fifth edition, corrected. London: Printed for Charles Bathurst, and sold by T. Woodward, C. Davis, C. Hitch, R. Dodsley, and W. Bowyer. MDCCLI [Gulliver's Travels, by Jonathan Swift]