In the 17th century it was not only countries and oceans that fascinated mapmakers, they were also interested in mapping the moon.

This map of the moon's surface was made in 1679 following several years of careful observations using telescopes. Astronomy was a prestigious pursuit in this period. The maker of this map, Giovanni Domenico Cassini, was Italian but he was employed at the court of King Louis XIV of France.

This map of the moon was printed in Paris in 1679. When we compare our knowledge of the moon today, we can see that this map is very accurate. In the 17th century the moon, it seems, was more precisely mapped than large parts of the Earth!