[Map of Balnibarbi]

Mapping Gulliver’s Travels.

This somewhat basic copperplate engraved map provides a rudimentary overview of the land of Balnibari, located in the Pacific somewhere east of Japan and visited by Lemuel Gulliver during his fantastical voyage. The cities of Lagado and Maldonada are labeled, in addition to the flying island of Laputa, hovering above Balnibari due to the region’s unusual magnetism. Small hills and forests give a generalized impression of the landscape, described by Gulliver as “a land unhappily cultivated, with houses ill-contrived and ruinous, and its people’s countenances expressing misery and want.”

Gulliver’s Travels, written by Jonathan Swift and first published in 1726, is a satirical novel that follows the epic travels of Lemuel Gulliver to whimsical (and sometimes dangerous) lands such as Lilliput, Brobdingnag, Laputa, and the country of the Houyhnhnms. Beneath the amusing, adventurous narrative, Swift used the story to satirise human pride, social structure, and the exaggerations of popular travel tales. The book was an immediate success and has been adapted to a variety of media, including theatrical performances, films, television, and radio.

This example of the map of Balnibari Island was rescued from a broken and worm-eaten copy of The Works of Dr. Jonathan Swift Volume II, published in London in 1768. Printed on Fleet Street for C. Bathurst. The map is accompanied by a print, engraved by Johann Sebastian Müller, that shows the science-loving citizens of Laputa.