Together with his interesting article on the origin and development of Valletta’s Manderaggio (Mandraġġ), Denis Darmanin published a beautifully coloured map of Valletta by Pierre Mortier (The Sunday Times of Malta, June 21).

As with many maps of Malta, it is always vital to know whether the map is original or if it was derived from some other map, printed or manuscript.

As I had occasion to point out in my book, Valletta Città Nuova, published in 2003, Mortier’s map is far from being original and therefore possibly misleading. In the introduction to the book on Valletta, I had written that the map in question was originally published in Rome by Matteo Perez d’Aleccio in 1582 in his engraved album of the Malta Siege maps.

This album, made to commemorate the Siege of 1565, was reissued in Rome by Anton Francesco Lucini in 1631, with two later editions published in Bologna.

Lucini’s map of Valletta is therefore a replica of d’Aleccio’s, but Lucini made several errors of transcription.

The map by Lucini was copied faithfully and re-engraved for the Atlas Maior of Johannes Bleau, published in 1663.

Bleau’s copperplate passed to Mortier, who reprinted the map in 1704, changing only the Italian title into French.

Being unaware of this genealogy, a historian wrote decades ago that Mortier’s map showed how Valletta looked like in 1704!