This map, published by the Belgian cartographer Philippe Vandermaelen, formed part of his Universal Atlas of Physical, Political, Statistical and Mineralogical Geography of 1827.

The Atlas Universel It was the world’s first atlas produced entirely to a uniform scale using lithography, a printing technique developed in the late 18th century by Aloys Senefelder. The 380 plates that make up the atlas were designed to be assembled to form a globe 7.75 metres in diameter.

This particular map shows the two island chains that make up the Marshall Islands archipelago: the Ratak Chain to the east (in green) and the Ralik Chain to the west (in yellow). The text on the left-hand side contains descriptive notes on the Marshall Islands, their society and their seafaring customs, all based on the limited information available in Europe at the time.

To find out more about the cartography of the Marshall Islands, You can read this article.

Sources

• Radak Islands, Ralik Islands. Oceanique no. 10.