The color version looks really great, especially in the edited version. Here again, nice work !

To come back to the lack of space for labels, most of the traditional map makers actually start with writing them on the first light pencil sketch for two reasons : 1/ make sure enough space is reserved for them, 2/ as a good writing is challenging for a lot of us, it's always easier to just restart the calligraphy again if you're not happy with it, instead of ruining a map you spent 50h on it. There's two people especially good a that and you could learn a lot at studying their process : the amazing Impractical Cartographer here on the Guild, and ManuscriptMaps on Instagram.