[Map of Brobdingnag]

Mapping Gulliver’s Travels.

This somewhat basic copperplate-engraved map provides a rudimentary overview of the land of Brobdingnag, located off the West Coast of North America and inadvertently visited by Lemuel Gulliver after his ship was blown off course. Allegedly discovered in 1705, the area (occupied by giants) is situated above the Strait of Annian and not far from modern-day California. The cities of Flanfasnic and Lorbrgulgrud are labeled, along with a handful of (real) geographic features.

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 Brobdingnag 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 Brobdingnag giants towering over Gulliver.