The Malta Map Society was born on the 14th of November 2009 when it was founded by Dr Albert Ganado, the President of the society. During these 10 years the Society has been extremely active and has managed to organise multiple activities and publish several publications. One of the most prestigious activities was the hosting of the International IMCoS (International Map Collectors Society) Symposium in 2011 which was attended by over 55 map librarians, curators, dealers and map enthusiasts hailing from places as far away as America, Russia and Australia besides from all Europe. To commemorate that event MaltaPost issued a special cancellation stamp and printed special first day covers and envelopes.
The Society also organised lectures and other events for its members and their guests by international speakers. These included the first lecture entitled How Maps came to Rule Her Life by Ms Valerie Newby who was then Vice-Chairman of IMCoS in 2010, a lecture in 2012 on Celestial Cartography from Ancient to Modern Times by Dr Nick Kanas, a member of the Washington Map Society and Professor Emeritus at the University of California, a lecture entitled Here be Monsters: How the Sea Chart and Navigational Maps shaped our World by Lt Cdr John Blake in 2013, and a film show in 2014 entitled ‘My Dear Friend and Map Engraver’ about Rainer Kalnbach, the last German engraver to work at the German Hydrographic Institute in Hamburg. The film was preceded by a short lecture on different printing techniques by Joseph Schirò and followed by a practical session with Maltese artist and engraver Jesmond Vassallo.
The Society is also proud of its publication record. During these 10 years, the Society has published 9 newsletters and 4 journals. The newsletter reached such high standards in its contributions that it was decided to issue it as a Journal which reflected better the quality of the contributions.
It has published several books including the catalogue to the exhibition, German Malta Maps in 2011, The Early Maltese Cartographers in 2011, and The Brocktorff Mapmakers, another exhibition catalogue in 2012, the Pre-Siege Maps of Malta to commemorate the 450th anniversary of the Great Siege of Malta of 1565 in 2015, as well as the translation and editing of the Russian book The Island of Malta and the Order of St John by Grigory Krayevsky which has the only known Russian map of Malta, in 2017.
IMAGO MELITAE 2019 SEMINAR
The organisation for the November 23 seminar to mark the 10th anniversary of the Malta Map Society is now well underway under the patronage of the President of Malta, H.E. Dr. George Vella (also an avid map collector).
The landmark event will be held in the historic and recently-renovated De Paule Room at the beautiful Presidential Palace in San Anton Gardens and invitations are being sent by the President himself.
Speakers at the conference will be Dr Albert Ganado who will talk on The birth of a Malta Map Collection; Prof. William Zammit on Malta-Related Maps and Plans at the Gennadius Library, Athens; Dr Alexander Kent and Dr John Davies on The Secret Soviet mapping of Malta during the Cold War; Prof. John A. Schembri on Sketches of villages in Malta and Gozo in 1907; Dr Ritienne Gauci and Ms Sara Jane Bezzina on Cartographic expression of young children’s spatial skills; Dr Almudena Arellano on From Għar Dalam to Pendimoun. Mediterranean itinerary; Mr Joseph Schirò on A bird’s-eye view of the village of Ħal-Muxi by Lorenzo Cafà?; and Ms Roberta Cruciata on The Maltese Workshop of the Gili. From the Commissions for the Knights of Ursulo to the Malta Map of Aloisio.
Four foreign speakers will be participating. These are Dr. Almudena Arellano Alonso who will talk about cartography in pre-history. She will be travelling especially from the Balzi Rossi (Red Rocks) site, France, one of the most important prehistoric sites in the world, where she is Superintendent. Dr Alex Kent who is a Reader in Cartography and Geographic Information Science at Canterbury Christ Church University, together with Dr John Davies who is a life-long map collector and enthusiast. And finally, Dr Roberta Cruciata who is a Lecturer of Museology and Management of Museum Heritage at the University of Palermo.
IMAGO MELITAE 2019
Saturday 23 November 2019
De Paule Suite, San Anton Palace, Attard
PROGRAMME
Chairperson: Ms Bernadine Scicluna
Registration 8.30 – 9.00
9.00 – 9.15 Welcome by Dr Albert Ganado, the President of the Malta Map Society
915 – 9.30 Opening of seminar by H.E. Dr George Vella, the President of Malta
9.30 – 9.50 Dr Albert Ganado – The birth of a Malta Map Collection
9.50 – 10.10 Prof. William Zammit – Malta-Related Maps and Plans at the Gennadius Library, Athens
10.10 – 10.30 Dr Alexander Kent and Mr John Davies – The Secret Soviet mapping of Malta during the Cold War
Coffee Break 10.30 – 11.00
11.00 – 11.20 Prof. John A. Schembri –Sketches of villages in Malta and Gozo in 1907
11.20 – 11.40 Dr Ritienne Gauci and Ms Sara Jane Bezzina – Cartographic expression of young children’s spatial skills
11.40 – 12.00 Dr Almudena Arellano – From Għar Dalam to Pendimoun. Mediterranean itinerary
12.00 – 12.20 Mr Joseph Schirò – A bird’s-eye view of the village of Ħal-Muxi by Lorenzo Cafà?
12.20 – 12.40 Dr Roberta Cruciata – The Maltese Workshop of the Gili. From the Commissions for the Knights of Ursulo to the Malta Map of Aloisio.
12.40 – 13.00 Question time
THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE SEMINAR CAN BE SEEN ON VIDEO THROUGH THE FOLLOWING LINKS:
Opening speech by His Excellency George Vella, President of Malta, on the occasion of the seminar organised by the Malta Map Society in commemoration of its 10th anniversary since its foundation: IMAGO MELITAE, Sant’ Anton Palace
Distinguished guests
I am aware that many of you travelled from afar to attend this auspicious event and it is a pleasure for me to open this auspicious event.
As we all know, Dr Ganado is the doyen in the study and knowledge of Maltese cartography, and his long years of study on antique maps, apart from his extensive publications on Maltese history, art, legislation, politics and philately, has earned him also international acclaim and recognition, culminating in the prestigious Helen Wallis award by the international map collectors society for his high contribution to the history of cartography in 2011. And yet when he was already in his mid-eighties, he decided to lay the foundations of the new Malta Map Society to ensure that interest in the study of Maltese cartography remains alive and continues to prosper.
Nowadays there is the misconception that with the introduction of google maps and the use of the GPS, conventional maps printed on paper are no longer needed. Indeed these web-based services do provide very detailed and very accurate information about geographical regions and sites around the world. They are also interactive and have proved to be very popular when travelling. However the biggest handicap in these systems is that they depend on the usability of the hardware and on power and internet connection.
If conventional paper-based maps are no longer necessary, what use is there to study antique obsolete maps? But maps reach more than geographical education. They encompass history, information on climates, crops, trade, military information, notations, dedication, as well as images of dwellings, peoples, animals, and all sorts of oddities.
Giacomo Gastaldi (c.1500-1566) the Italian cartographer, astronomer and engineer of the 16th century, called it ‘cartography and curiosity’. And this is perhaps the most important role that the Malta Map Society has been fulfilling during these last 10 years. with their activities and with the publications which they have produced, they have shown how rich Malta is when it comes to cartography since new maps are continually being discovered and have shown that maps are primary sources of information which enrich our knowledge of the history of our island archipelago to satisfy the curiosity of everyone, and not just academics.
I hope that the Malta Map Society grows from strength to strength over the years. I saw from the programme that one of the speakers is a young graduate from the Geography Department of the university of Malta. This is highly recommendable as our efforts should also be directed to the young to be able to instil in them not only the love of cartography but also to teach them what distinguishes us from others and gives us our national identity.
https://www.facebook.com/PresidentofMalta/videos/426572204703559/
https://www.facebook.com/PresidentofMalta/videos/425172678156489
VIDEO PRODUCED TO COMMEMORATE THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY KINDLY SPONSORED BY THE FARSONS FOUNDATION
Maps of Malta taking shape
The idea of preparing a video-clip titled Maps of Malta taking shape showing how the representation of the Maltese archipelago changed and morphed over the ages, came after the publication in 2016 of the ‘The Pre-Siege Maps of Malta: Second Century Ad-1564’ authored by Albert Ganado and Joseph Schirò.
The earliest maps were rather rudimentary almost bearing no relation to the real shape of the island of Malta. Early maps of Malta were round-shaped notwithstanding the publication in 1551 of the near-perfect fish-shaped map of Malta by Antonio Lafreri. The Grand harbour and Marsamxetto harbour were usually drawn proportionately larger to give them the importance that they deserved as havens for ships and sailors.
The Malta Map Society, which has been awarded patronage by H.E. the President of Malta in 2019 on its 10th anniversary, would like to thank the Farsons Foundation for its sponsorship, Joseph Schirò for the concept, and Sam Hayman for its production. Amusement and education were the rationale behind the production of this video-clip.
A souvenir was produced of the video.
TALK AT BRITISH RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION
To mark the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Malta Map Society, Joseph Schiro, Honorary Secretary, delivered a talk to the British Residents Association at the Union Club in Sliema on 1st October at 10.30.a.m. The title of the talk was Did Google Maps kill the Cartographic Star? The talk was very well-received by the audience and they invited him again to give further talks next year.
