THE FIRST STATE OF A VERY RARE MAP OF ULIMOROA. Over the years Australia has been known by different appellations. The most enigmatic of them was Ulimaroa. This map is a later Swedish edition of Daniel Djuberg’s original published in Stockholm in 1780. The name was first used by Djurberg (1744-1834) in 1776. A member of the Cosmographical Society in Uppsala he wanted to give the land an indigenous name, instead of the European ones placed on it to date. ‘Ulimaroa’ is a Maori term originally found in Hawkesworth’s edition of Captain James Cook’s voyage. Some believe the Maori were actually referring to Grand Terre in New Caledonia. The Austrian mapmaker Franz Anton Schraembl in 1789 published a map using the same name as did Franz Johann Joseph von Reilly.

It is highly likely that this map was published in response to Carl Jonas Love Almqvist’s novel entitled ‘Parjumour Saga ifran Nya Holland’ published in Stockholm, 1817. It is the first Swedish novel set in Australia. Erik Akerlund [Akerland] (1754-1835) was a Swedish chartmaker and engraver. He was born in Stockholm and studied engraving there. He joined the globe making firm of Fredrik Akrel where he worked on the series of charts for Johann Nordenankar from 1787. He took over publication of Anders Akerman’s ‘Atlas Juvenilis’ in the early 1800s.

Australia is here named as ‘Nya Holland eller Ulimoroa’. The map appears to exist in two states, this being the first. A second state has been identified in which ‘Forbalttrad 1831’ has been added to the title cartouche. Further names have been added to New Zealand and Australia where the Blue Ridge Mountains are present. Ginsberg (2009) pp. 143-4; Tent, Jan & Geraghty, Paul (2012) ‘Where in the World is Ulimaroa’, in ‘Journal of Pacific History’ volume 47; Tooley (1964) ‘One Hundred Foreign Maps of Australia’ no. 48, pl. 155; Tooley’s ‘Dictionary’ (1999-2004).