The map of Johannes Quintinus Haeduus and its derivatives

Abstract

The first known map of the Maltese islands was drawn in the latter part of the fifteenth century, but the first printed map was that published in 1536 in Lyons by Johannes Quintinus. Being rather primitive, it did not serve as a model for other maps beyond the 16th century. However, as it was important in the time frame of Maltese cartography, it was reproduced by other cartographers, namely, in Frankfurt in 1600, in 1725 in Leiden, and around 1800 as a loose sheet probably in Malta. Of the 16th-century Malta maps, those by Antonio Lafreri (1551) and Matteo Perez d'Aleccio (1582) remained the basic maps for the next two centuries.