Malta and Gozo in a 1907 Public Works series of sketches of villages – a study of street patterns, hachures and lost coastlines

Abstract

Introduction: Cartographic representation has a long history generally in line with the human use and exploration of the earth. The oldest example can be attributed to a Mesopotamian landscape showing mountains, lakes and other physiographic features on a clay tablet roughly dated at five millennia ago. The annual inundation of the Nile caused the removal of low boundaries and their reallocation was only possible if property lines were accurately represented on tablets or other media beforehand. The search for new lands and sea gateways through exploration, discovery and utilization of resources by adventures, privateers, seafarers and commissioned seamen entailed the production of maps and charts. With the advent of printing these were produced in quantities and on media that could be distributed and used as navigation aids resulting in further refining of the older lands and as assistance to the discovery of new grounds.