Hermann Moll’s double hemisphere map of the world was the first map printed for his flagship work “The World Described”. The first edition has been traced to 1707 and was sold as a single sheet for a substantially long time. It is thought that the first time it was bound was c.1714. One single example of the 1707 edition has been traced to the British Library.

The map had several geographical updates in its second edition of 1709 but after that, it stayed constant throughout its long publishing history into the late 18th century. Returning to its geographical sources, it is remarkably sophisticated for its time. Although Moll has been known to have worked with Robert Morden and Philip Lea previously, his map does not bear close resemblance to the world maps of either of the two previous geographers. Moll also produced a more decorative version of Hubert Jaillot’s map first issued in 1674 and while his 1707 map bears some elements of Jaillot it also either ignores or improves many others, including the removal of the mythical “Company’s Land” in the North Pacific. Ironically, while Moll is obviously sceptical of this Dutch myth, he does add the equally mythical “River of the West or River Longue” in western North America, based on the accounts of Baron Lahontan in 1690. He is also a great proponent of the island of California and as is often the case, the mouth of the Straits of Anian is just north of the island.

Numerous text panels serve not only to inform about the sources for the map but also to allow Moll to vent his frustrations about the perfidy of other members of the map trade who break his copyright as well as the inadequacy of older geographical sources; on this occasion, the venerable French geographer Nicholas Sanson draws his ire. He also uses this opportunity to announce his intention to launch a subscription scheme, as releasing his maps on the open market would just allow his unscrupulous competitors to copy them.

Much has been studied and written about Moll’s friendship with some of the great mariners of the day, including William Dampier, William Hacke and Woodes Rogers and it is believed that much of the information on this map is based on geographical descriptions from these sources. Certainly, there are some hints of their contribution, such as the inclusion of Dampier’s Strait between the island of New Britain and New Guinea. It is also interesting that Moll felt compelled to add another world map, this time on Mercator’s Projection, to the atlas. Its engraving date is 1719 and it is modelled on the map produced by Edmund Halley to show the work he had done on the readings of the magnetic north. Moll’s map also shows currents, wind directions and an explanation of the scale of the world using English leagues. Far more decorative than Halley’s rather dry scientific map, it was clearly meant to show that Moll was including the latest scientific data within his work. Geographically, it is broadly the same as the double hemisphere map although there are additions such as a large inset of the North Pole and an update of the eastern coastline of Asia based on Witsen.

Despite this addition, the double hemisphere map continued to be issued within the atlas after 1719 throughout its long publishing history.
Much scholarship has been done on the various versions and states of this map and this particular example has been identified as State 9 published in 1733.

Original colour. [WLD4704]