Cartographic representations in early eighteenth century Baroque Malta

Abstract

As contracts are fact-specific statements so are the cartographic representations attached to them. This article addresses such representations dating to early eighteenth century Baroque Malta. It focuses on a specific public deed which includes a sketch plan covering a large territory. This representation, which is countersigned by ‘periti’, has no scale bar but includes orientation and annotations with respect to the extent of the territory subject of the deed. Through these annotations which included landmarks and linear measurements, the boundaries of the property were reinterpreted. Whereas the current interpretation is 35% in excess of the superficial area stated in the deed, a re-interpretation led to a variation of less than 1%. This illustrates that historical figurative cartographic representations are accurate, fact-specific legal documents with minimal variations.