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This decorative two-sheet map of the Mediterranean and North Africa was published by Richard Blome. The map covers an extensive area from Morocco and the Straits of Gibraltar to Cyprus and the Red Sea, with a focus on Sicily and Malta. It features numerous sailing ships, sea monsters, lions, elephants, ostriches, and other embellishments. It is possibly one of the earliest maps of the region to be included in an English atlas.
At the time of publication, Tangier was a British possession, given to Charles II as part of the dowry when he married Catherine of Braganza, the Portuguese Infanta, in 1662. Charles intended to make Tangier the fortress and gatekeeper to the Mediterranean, a role later assumed by Gibraltar. However, the British were forced to leave Tangier in 1684.
Displayed at the top of the map are 36 armorials, demonstrating Blome's talent for securing funding through subscriptions. Among the notable subscribers are James Compton, 3rd Earl of Northampton and Lord Lieutenant of Warwickshire, and Elias Ashmole, whose bequest of books and manuscripts laid the foundation for the Ashmolean Museum.
The map was engraved by Francis Lamb for Blome's Geographical Description of the World in Four Parts, which was the first atlas of the world engraved and published in England.
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