29/08/2026
🇲🇹 Fil-MUŻA ssib pitturi, skulturi, tpenġijiet, stampi, ġojjellerija, għamara, ċeramika, kotba, installazzjonijiet, arti vidjografika, u ... mapep. Fil-fatt, għandna kollezzjoni ta' mapep stampati u manuskritti, primarjament ta' Malta, li hi kbira mhux ħażin. Mapep tal-Belt Valletta, tal-portijiet Maltin ewlenin, tal-arċipelogu Malti, u anke ta' Malta mitfugħa fost il-gżejjer u l-portijiet Mediterranji ġirien tagħha. Għandna ħafna mapep tal-Assedju l-Kbir tal-1565. Ftit iżda huma l-mapep li jiffokaw speċifikament fuq il-gżejjer-aħwa ta' Malta. Fil-każ ta' Kemmuna, għandna mappa Brittanika, inċiża fuq l-azzar, li hi l-unika mappa ta' Kemmuna fil-kollezzjoni kartogarfika tal-MUŻA.
Fiċ-ċentru jidhru Kemmuna u Kemmunett, imqegħdin bejn Malta u Għawdex. Fil-parti ta' fuq tal-mappa, tidher iż-żona tat-Tramuntana. Biex inkunu preċiżi, din hi karta nawtika jew idrografika, kif jixhdu t-topografija dettaljata, il-kontorni ta' tarf il-baħar, u n-numri żgħar, jew qjiem, mifruxin fuq il-baħar, li jkejlu kemm hu fond 🌊.
Karta bħal din kienet interessanti u utli ħafna għall-baħħara, speċjalment għall-Brittaniċi li, meta kellhom il-gżejjer Maltin taħt idejhom, taw importanza kbira lill-qasam marittimu u navali.
Thomas Graves (1802–1856) [surveyor], Thomas Abel Brimage Spratt (1811-1888) [idrografu], “Comino Channels”, post-1860, inċiżjoni fuq l-azzar, Kollezzjoni ta' Mapep ta' Malta ta' Albert Ganado, Kollezzjoni Kartografika tal-MUŻA. Ritratt mill-Malta Study Center fil-Hill Museum and Manuscript Library, Collegeville, MN, l-Istati Uniti.
🇬🇧 MUŻA has paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints, jewellery, furniture, ceramics, books, prints, installations, video art and…maps. Indeed, it has quite a sizeable collection, mostly of Malta, in printed and manuscript form. There are different categories too such as those that show Valletta, Malta’s main harbours, the Maltese archipelago alone and in the context of neighbouring Mediterranean islands and ports. Large in number are those of the Great Siege of 1565. Very small, if not almost negligible, in number are maps solely of Malta’s sister islands and even less, of Comino. This is why the steel-engraved British map of the ‘Comino Channels’ is one to literally celebrate because it is the one and only in the cartographic collection.
Bang in the centre, the islets of Comino and Cominotto lie between the extremities of Malta and Gozo. A profile view of this northern area is provided in the upper part of this map, or more precisely, this nautical or hydrographic chart. The tell-tale signs are the very detailed topography and contours of the water’s edge and the tiny insect-like numbers – or fathoms – that dot the sea. These are measurements of depths of water 🌊.
Such a chart would have been of great interest and use to mariners, and all the more so to the British whose maritime and naval priorities continued to take precedence when the Maltese Islands were in their hands.
Thomas Graves (1802-1856) [surveyor], Thomas Abel Brimage Spratt (1811-1888) [hydrographer], “Comino Channels”, post-1860, steel engraving, Albert Ganado Malta Map Collection, MUŻA Cartographic Collection. Photo courtesy of the Malta Study Center at the Hill Museum and Manuscript Library, Collegeville, MN, U.S.A.
