This Italian map was made by a Franciscan monk in 1688. The map was made to be part of a globe for the Duke of Parma. The monk, Vincenzo Coronelli, was born in 1650 most likely in Venice. This globe he made for the Duke of Parma established him as a fine mapmaker. The map was only made for the Duke of Parma, Ranuccio II. There could be several reasons the duke needed the map. First, he recently had lost many territories to Pope Innocent X and could have been looking to regain land. That could explain why the borders are done in such great detail and almost every single port city is identified. The other reason the map could have been made is for trade. That would suggest why all the port cities are named because trade was a very important asset at this time and could lead to wealth. It is really interesting how there are these little symbols all over the map. When looking at other Italian maps at the time these symbols are most likely all the churches of the time. These would be shown because the cartographer was a monk. I found it very interesting how he was able to identify where all the churches in Europe are and place them on the map. As well the borders being shown as both dotted lines and highlighted is fascinating because it shows all the political struggles at the time. The other geographical features shown on the map are mountains, forests, lines of longitude and latitude, the arctic circle(circolo polare), and the prime meridian(promo meridiano). The forests are probably shown because at the time wood was the main source of fuel and it was highly valuable to have forests in your territory. Overall it is very magnificent how the map has so much political and religious detail, but still has artistic features that give it a pleasant appearance. 
This map of North America was made by the British cartographer Hermann Moll in 1720. There are three main reasons for the creation of this map; to mark the virile fishing grounds of the northeast, encourage further British expedition into North America, and to clearly depict California, or “New Albion,” as an island. At the time of the settlement of North America by the British, cod fishing was a primary lure to the new land, so it was important to provide great detail of the whereabouts of these fishing grounds. This is demonstrated by the meticulous detail put into the northeast of North America by Moll. The cartographer may have also been hinting at the vast amount of unknown land of western Canada. This could have been a suggestion to increase the British sphere of influence into the unknown territory, as Moll has made it clear that it has not been charted - instead filling parts of the area with text unassociated with its political or physical features. Finally, the cartographer has clearly established California as an island for a very specific reason. In an effort to support the British colonial claims, Moll recorded Drake’s claimed 1578 landfall with an inscription in northern California. If Drake, a British explorer, did in fact land on the “island” of California, that was not attached to the Spanish claims in North America (Mexico), then the British held the right to its territory (New Albion). This map was dedicated to John Lord Sommers, a former member of the British parliament who died in 1716. Because it was dedicated to a former member of parliament, whose memory was fresh in the minds of his colleagues who were still serving, the claims to California as British territory became more appealing. As well as these important political statements made by the cartographer, there are key cultural symbols to be noticed. These include major bodies of water such as rivers, lakes, bays, and gulfs. Also, the lines of longitude and latitude, and the Tropic of Cancer and Arctic Circle are shown. Finally, the borders between separately governed territories are highlighted in color.
This is a world map made by Francesco Berlinghieri in 1482. Francesco Berlinghieri was an Italian scholar and humanist. He was appointed Florentine ambassador and later was employed in the court of Lorenzo de’ Medici. Berlinghieri was interested it Ptolemy’s Geographica and started to work on a treatise based on Ptolemy’s ideas. His map was the first to be printed in Italian, and one of the first printed works based on Ptolemy’s Geographica. He dedicated this map to the Ottoman Sultan, but when Sultan died in 1481, he switched and dedicated it to Federico de Montefeltro, who was the Duke of Urbino who also ended up dying before the map was printed. There is a big chunk of land in the map because no one had sailed around Africa so they did not know that it didn’t continue along. In this map the Nile flows north from a mountain. The lines of latitude and longitude are not accurate. They are curved and too low on the map. At this time the universe was still viewed as the Earth being in the center. I would think that this map was made for the general public because it was written in vernacular so most Italians could read it. There is no America in this map because America had not yet been discovered because this map was made before 1492. In this map you will see twelve faces blowing wind onto each direction of the map. These heads symbolize the twelve apostles. This map is interesting because it was made right before so many discoveries! It is interesting to see how scholars thought the Earth was and it is crazy to think that America was unknown. Maps made before 1492 are so incorrect, but it is interesting to see how the discoveries before 1492 influenced the making of the map, and for the lack of technology it is impressive how much is actually correct.
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