Carte de L’Aancien Continent Pour l’intelligence du Voyage du Jeune Anacharsis

18th century map of the Eastern Hemisphere, from the perspective of a 6th century Greek philosopher.

This map of the Eastern Hemisphere was published to accompany Jean Jacques Barthelemy’s novel “The Travels of Anacharsis the Younger in Greece,” first published in 1788. The story is about a descendant of the philosopher Anacharsis who tours Greece and describes the local customs and the map was used to visualize his fictional journey.

Locations are generally referenced by their ancient names, but the borders of the continents show an interesting mix of historical cartography and more contemporary geographic discoveries.