Historic Map : Burr Antique Map of Scandinavia (Denmark, Sweden and Norway), 1833, Vintage Wall Art

This is an impressive 1833 first edition map of Scandinavia by David H. Burr. The map covers Denmark, Norway and Sweden in detail and identifies various cities, towns, rivers, mountain passes and an assortment of additional topographical details.

The legendary and semi-mythical whirlpool known as the Maelstrom (Mahlstrom) in northwestern Norway is noted. This legendary whirlpool was the inspiration for Edgar Allen Poe's classic tale 'Descent into the Maelstrom.' In reality, it is a periodic and powerful current caused by tidal variations in the region. As this map was being printed, all of Scandinavia was in the midst of a prolonged period of peace and prosperity that led to a cultural and population boom.

According to Ristow, although Burr is credited on the title page, he left this atlas incomplete. He was appointed as topographer to the U.S. Post Office, and of the siin xty-three maps finally included in this atlas, only completed eight. The rest of the maps were then completed by Illman and Pilbrow in Burr's style. This map was ‘Entered according to act of Congress in the year 1833 by Illman and Pilbrow in the Clerk's office of the District Court for the Southern District of New York', but was not published until the atlas was released in 1835. Published by D. S. Stone in Burr's New Universal Atlas.