In 1776 the Danes initiated a scientific expedition to Iceland, with a view to exploring especially the conditions for fishing and harbour-building. Ólafur Olavius was chosen for the trip. He travelled all over the country for three summers and wrote a book containing his observations. The book was called Oeconomisk Reise igiennem Island and it was accompanied by a new map of Iceland.
The map is in broad outline unchanged from the map that appeared in the travel book by Eggert Ólafsson and Bjarni Pálsson in 1772. Jón Eiríksson probably had most to do with its production and gives this account of his alterations: "I have made a special point of correcting the location and names of places on the older maps, and also of adding various places which might be considered especially interesting for any reason. I have also removed place-names which were either wrong or else of no particular interest". These changes were not however very extensive. The coastline is never interfered with, but Danish and Danish-infected place-names are given generally the Icelandic forms. The central highlands are unchanged from the map of 1772 and indeed from the Homanns map of 1761.