Catalog 54 World Maps

R I C H A R D B . A R K WA Y , I N C .
F I N E A N T I Q U E M A P S , AT L A S E S , G L O B E S A N D V O YA G E B O O K S
C ATA L O G 5 4
World Map from the Ulm Ptolemy, 1482 [Item 4]
WORLD MAPS
C.1200
- 1700
R I C H A R D B . A R K WA Y , I N C .
F I N E A N T I Q U E M A P S , AT L A S E S , G L O B E S A N D V O YA G E B O O K S
C ATA L O G 5 4
WORLD
MAPS
C.1200
- 1700
5 9 E A S T 5 4 T H S T R E E T, # 6 2 • N E W Y O R K , N Y 1 0 0 2 2
( 2 1 2 ) 7 5 1 - 8 1 3 5 • ( 8 0 0 ) 4 5 3 - 0 0 4 5 • FA X : ( 2 1 2 ) 8 3 2 - 5 3 8 9
a r k w a y @ m i n d s p r i n g . c o m • w w w. a r k w a y. c o m
ANONYMOUS, manuscript map on vellum, c.1200 [Item 1]
CATALOG 54 - WORLD MAPS c.1200-1700
Richard B. Arkway Inc. is proud to be offering this extraordinary collection of world maps in association with
MapSage.com, the Internet operation of Early Map Source LLC.
Early Map Source LLC is a publishing and technology company based in Connecticut. They are the publishers of Rodney W. Shirley’s The Mapping of The World and, in conjunction with Map Collector Publications,
the revised edition of Tooley’s Dictionary of Mapmakers. Both of these valuable reference works can be ordered
through MapSage.com.
MapSage.com is exploring new ways to research and acquire maps. This offering is the first time that some
of these new technologies are being used in association with a printed catalog from a map dealer. All of the maps
offered in this catalog are showcased on the site at http://www.mapsage.com, where high resolution digital images
and research information are available for each map.
We will continue to operate our own website at www.arkway.com and are proud to be exploring how new
technology can be used for map collecting in association with MapSage.com.
-- Richard B. Arkway, Inc.
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1. ANONYMOUS, [13th century manuscript map from: Dragmaticon by William of Conches] France,
c.1200.
Manuscript world map 2” in diameter drawn in red ink with a yellow wash, and with captions in a
brown ink. On two vellum leaves recovered from a binding. Some minor staining and a few holes.
Text cropped from the outer column and bottom of each leaf just touching the solar diagram. The northern periphery of the world map with some corrosion from the pigment, otherwise in very good condition. Overall measurements are 5 1/2” x 7 3/4”. $225,000. [pictured opposite]
This remarkable vellum fragment, preserving a medieval mappaemundi, is from an early manuscript of William of Conches’ Dragmaticon. The mappaemundi in the upper left is sometimes referred
to as quadripartite and is distinctive for showing an unknown fourth continent which does not always
appear on medieval world maps. Biblical doctrine at the time claimed that there were only three habitable continents, each populated by one of Noah’s three sons - Ham, Shem and Japhet - making the
fourth continent a problematic concept for orthodox medieval theology. On this example, east is oriented to the top, and the points are labelled Oriens, Occidens, Septentrio and Auster. The fourth continent is unnamed but is shown occupying half of the earth to the south and is separated from Europe,
Africa and Asia by an unnamed band of ocean. The Indian and Mediterranean Oceans are named, as
are Africa, Mount Calpe (the Rock of Gibraltar) and Spain - which is given special prominence. This
prominence suggests the possible influence of the Beatus type of quadripartite map deriving from an
8th century prototype by Spanish theologian and geographer Beatus of Lieban.
An important figure in the 12th century, William of Conches (c.1080 - c.1160) wrote glosses on
Juvenal, Macrobius, Martianus, Capella, Priscian, Boethius and Plato. His principal work, Di
Philosophia Mundi, was one of the major 12th century texts on astronomy, geography, meteorology and
medicine. It was written in his youth and subsequently expanded into the present treastise, the
Dragmaticon. The text of the this work was written as a dialogue between the author and his patron
Geoffry Plantagenet, Duke of Normandy, and the title Dragmaticon derives from the use of dialogue
for dramatic presentation. Conches was familiar with the cosmology of Plato and reveals himself to
have been an original and systematic thinker who may have taken advantage of newly introduced
Arabic sciences. The Dragmaticon was popular and was translated into Hebrew and Catalan. Its
author, “in the enduring world of thought and letters, carved for himself a lasting niche by his comparative intellectual courage, originality and thoroughness” -- Thorndike, History of Magic and
Experimental Science, II, p. 62.
Some 70 manuscripts of the Dragmaticon are known, dating from the 12th to the 15th centuries.
Of those examined by Destombes, approximately half contained world maps. Mappaemundi exist as
an integral part of various medieval texts including not only William of Conches but Beatus of Lieban,
Isidore of Seville, Bede, Lucan and others. Of the examples listed by Destombes, aside from the 10th
century Ludwig Macrobius, none earlier than the 14th century is apparently in private hands. This
unrecorded 13th century bifolium represents an extraordinary opportunity for the collector.
The text on this fragment discusses the moon and lunar eclipses, meteors, wind and air, comets,
water, tides, oceans and the zones of the earth. The illustration in the lower right is an astronomical diagram of solar eclipses. ref: Destombes, Mappemondes A.D. 1200-1500, Amsterdam, 1964.
2. ANONYMOUS, [untitled world map from: Rudimentum Novitiorum...] Lübeck, 1475.
Circular woodcut map 14 3/4” in diameter. On two half-sheets as printed. Full original color. Minor
damage to the lower margins not effecting printed surface. A excellent example. Price on request.
[color image on back cover]
First edition in original color. With the exception of a single T-O diagram, this striking circular
woodcut is the first printed world map. It preceeded the first published atlas [the Bologna Ptolemy] by
two years and is a map of legendary rarity. Only one edition was printed from the original Lübeck
woodblocks, and this is an example of this rare Lübeck edition.
Published in 1475, the illustrated world history, Rudimentum Novitiorum, included two remarkable
maps - one of Palestine and this one of the world. “These are the first printed maps to try and show
land forms and countries in topographical relation to each other. The world map derives from a
Christianised medieval tradition without any reference to either Ptolemaic or portolan sources, and is a
vivid piece of early cartographical design” -- Shirley. The Rudimentum Novitiorum would go on to
become more widely known through later French translations under the title Mer des Hystoires [see catalog item #5].
Over 100 places-names and geographic features are identified, with towns and countries named.
Each country is represented as a separate hill accompanied by either a figure of the sovereign or several small buildings representing towns. Many of the hills are surrounded by water, and there are numerous trees, buildings, historical and religious figures scattered throughout. “It is unlikely that the mapmaker intended his readers to treat too literally the relationship of distance and direction between one
country and another,” according to Tony Campbell, “Crete and Cyprus, for example, are shown to the
northeast of France and Rome is to the south of it.” Nevertheless, this remarkable map provides us with
one of the earliest, and certainly the most complete, depictions of Europe’s medieval conception of the
world.
Wesley A. Brown has studied and published a detailed monograph on the map. He cites a number
of possible sources for the geography. As with all Christian-based models, much information was taken
directly from the Bible, but additional place names derive from sources such as Herodotus, Pliny,
Solinus, Bartholomaeus, Chrysostomes, Isidore and the fourteenth century manuscript Book of Sir John
Mandeville.
Arguably the greatest technical advance in human history was the invention of printing, and it is
ironic that the first use of this invention in the service of cartography marked “the end of an era rather
than the beginning of a new one” -- Campbell. The Rudimentum map is clearly medieval in character
and after its printing, no new maps of the medieval or mappaemundi tradition were published. “This
map represents the conclusion of a millennium of geographical thought based on the biblical dictates
of Isidore. Interestingly, this representation of the end of an era of geographic thought was published
the same year as the first printing of Ptolemy’s Geographia [without maps], which ushered in a new era
of Geographic thought based on the order and reason of Ptolemy” -- Brown. ref: Shirley, The Mapping
of The World, #2, plate 3, Rarity Index RR; The World Encompassed, #42, plate XV; Tony Campbell, The Earliest
Printed Maps, pp. 144-145; Wesley A. Brown, The World Image Expressed in the Rudimentum Novitiorum, Philip
Lee Phillips Society, Library of Congress, Occasional Paper Series, No. 3.
3. FRANCESCO BERLINGHIERI / CLAUDIUS PTOLEMY, [untitled world map from:
Geographia di Francesco Berlinghieri Fiorentino, in terza rima...] Florence, 1482.
16” x 21”. Uncolored. Laid down on Japanese paper with some areas of repair. Trimmed at margins
with slight loss of printed surface [primarily to the decorative windheads]. $130,000.
This map by Francesco Berlinghieri is one of the earliest printed Ptolemaic maps, showing the
world as it was known in the second century AD. “The atlas breaks ground by including four ‘modern’
maps based on post-Ptolemaic knowledge, but the world map is strictly classical. It is drawn according to Ptolemy’s own equal-area projection and the engraving is clear and of commendable elegance.
There are twelve vigorous windheads, each with flowing hair, forming a decorative border. The
engraver is not known for certain but the artist may well have been the Florentine Francesco Rosselli,
the distinction of whose cartographic work has not been recognized until relatively recently” -- Shirley.
Printed by Nicolo Todescho, a German printer working in Florence, Berlinghieri’s is the first version of Ptolemy in Italian. “The maps are considered far superior to those of the 1477 Bologna
Ptolemy” -- The World Encompassed. Shirley notes that the text of that atlas is notable for being “a
metrical rhyming paraphrase of Ptolemy.” Unlike other Ptolemaic atlases, sets of the Berlinghieri maps
were also sold separately, without the text. ref: Shirley, The Mapping of The World, #9, plate 1, Rarity Index
R; The World Encompassed, #39.
4. CLAUDIUS PTOLEMY, [untitled world map ‘Insculptum est per Iohanne Schnitzer de
Artmszheim’ from: Opus Donni Nicolai Germani Secundum Ptolemeum Finit...] Ulm, 1482.
15 3/4” x 21 3/4”. Bold blue original color. Full margins. Excellent condition. $240,000. [color image
on front cover]
A magnificent example. This famous woodcut is one of the most beautiful of the early maps of the
world. “The bold Germanic style and the gothic lettering have a distinctive decorative appeal, especially when combined with rich colouring” -- Shirley. Printed in Ulm, this is the first edition of Ptolemy
printed north of the Alps, the first woodcut version, and the map is the first to be signed. “This Ptolemy
has always been sought by bibliophiles because of the bold decorative quality of the maps, the handsome typography and fine woodcut borders and initials. The famous double-page world map is signed
by the cutter: Insculptum est per Iohanne Schnitzer de Armszheim, who probably executed the other
maps as well. His capable style has been recognized in certain of the illustrations of Holle’s other
renowned woodcut book, Buch der Weisheit, 1483” -- The World Encompassed.
Geographically, the Ulm Ptolemy “ventures to represent some features which update the Ptolemaic
world picture and which were very probably based on a manuscript of Donnus Nicolaus Germanus of
the 1470s” -- Shirley. It shows the beginnings of an expansion of the circumscribed, pre-Columbian
view of the world. Unlike previous maps, which show the northern limit of the known world to be
Scotland, here we have a rudimentary appearance of Scandinavia.
The Ulm Ptolemy was printed by Leinhart Holle, whose business went bankrupt shortly after publication. His stock was taken over by Johann Reger, who published another edition in 1486 using the
same blocks. ref: Shirley, The Mapping of The World, #10, plate 20, Rarity Index R; The World Encompassed,
#37, plate XI.
5. ANONYMOUS, [untitled world map c.1491 bound in Mer des Hystoires] Paris, c.1517.
Circular world map 12” in diameter. Uncolored. Strong impression. Excellent condition. Bound as
part of a small folio volume in good condition with modern full calf binding and gilt edges. Doublepage map of the Holy Land with substantial losses. $35,000.
This is the 1491 Lyons block of the world map, bound into a volume published by Jean Bonhomme
in Paris, c.1517. Shirley confirms that examples of the Lyons block appeared in Paris editions of the
Mer des Hystoires.
The encyclopedic world history structured on medieval theology, Rudimentum Novitiorum, became
better known through French translations under the title Mer des Hystoires. This famous volume contained the first detailed printed maps ever produced [for a description of the world map from the 1475
Rudimentum, see catalog item #2]. Two separate blocks of the world map were made for French issues
of the Mer de Hystoires, the first in Paris in 1488 and the second in Lyons in 1491. The world map
being offered here is from the 1491 block.
“Whereas the earlier La Mer des Hystoires map of 1488 remained close to the Rudimentum
Novitiorum prototype, this second (and reduced) derivation of 1491 betrays the work of a thinking individual” -- Campbell. A number of mistakes have been corrected, and the text is much clearer than in
the previous editions.
At the dawn of printing and the age of discovery there were three largely separate cartographic traditions - maps deriving from medieval theologic sources, maps following the Ptolemaic tradition, and
the more accurate coastal surveys found on portolan charts. Early examples of all three are highly
sought after and quite rare. This rare volume is a work of pre-eminent importance in cartographic and
intellectual history. ref: Shirley, The Mapping of The World, #17, plate 23, Rarity Index S; Tony Campbell, The
Earliest Printed Maps, pp. 148-149; Brunet, Volume III, p. 1641.
6. HARTMANN SCHEDEL, [untitled world map ‘Seconda etas mundi’ from: Registrum hujus
operis libri cronicarum... Nurembergensi] Nuremberg, 1493.
15” x 20 1/4” [including title, text and column of figures]. Sewing holes at centerfold repaired as usual.
Excellent condition. $18,000.
From the famous Nuremberg Chronicle, this woodcut map by Hartmann Schedel is both an aesthetic and historic document of the greatest significance. Published just 40 years after the invention of
printing, the Schedel map presents the world just prior to Columbus’ voyage and the rounding of the
Cape of Good Hope. As such, it is one of the great bridges in cartographic history, displaying the intersection of the theologic and legend-based Medieval world view with the emerging scientific orientation
of the Renaissance.
“The world map is a robust woodcut taken from Ptolemy without great attention to detail. The border contains twelve dour windheads while the map is supported in three of its corners by the solemn
figures of Ham, Shem and Japhet taken from the Old Testament. What gives the map its present-day
interest and attraction are the panels representing the outlandish creatures and beings that were thought
to inhabit the furthermost parts of the earth. There are seven such scenes to the left of the map and a
further fourteen on its reverse” -- Shirley. Some of these bizarre individuals were thought to be inhabit the so-called kingdoms of Gog and Magog in northern Asia.
The general shape of the map shows the influence of the most important geographical work of
antiquity, Ptolemy’s Geographia, which had been forgotten during the Middle Ages. Many medieval
notions are nevertheless incorporated and the Indian Ocean is shown in its land-locked, pre-discovery
state. Shirley calls the Nuremberg Chronicle “one of the most remarkable books of its time. The text
is an amalgam of legend, fancy, and tradition interspersed with the occasional scientific fact or authentic piece of modern learning.” ref: Shirley, The Mapping of The World, #19, plate 25, Rarity Index S; The World
Encompassed, #44, plate XII.
7. PLINY / [AMBROSIUS MACROBIUS], C. Plinio De Li Homini Il Lustri-In Lingua... [with the
untitled world map] Siena, 1506.
Octavo. Early stiff vellum binding with gold-stamped title. First few leaves remargined. Very good
condition. $6,500.
An early Siena imprint. This circular woodcut map, based on Macrobius, appeared in a rare edition of Pliny published in Siena in 1506. This issue of the map is not recorded by Shirley. The volume
also contains, on the last leaf, a splendid full-page woodcut of the grand arms of Siena and La Marque
de Nardi.
Ambrosius Macrobius was a fifth-century Roman philosopher whose works were of great popularity throughout the Middle Ages. “His neoplatonic commentary on Cicero includes, among many references to the pseudo-sciences, a geographical concept which is different from that of Ptolemy. The
inhabited world north of the Equator is balanced by a southern continent and divided from it by water”
-- Shirley. Destombes recorded nearly 100 manuscripts dating from 1200 to 1500 which contained a
simple map illustrating Macrobius’ theories. The first printed example of a Macrobius map appeared
in an edition published at Brescia in 1483. ref: not cited in Shirley; Sander, Le Livre A Figures Italien, Vol.
II, #5767.
8. JOHANN RUYSCH, Universalior Cogniti Orbis Tabula Ex Recentibus Confecta Observationibus
[from: In Hoc Operae Haec Continetur Geographia Cl. Ptholemaei...] Rome, 1507.
16” x 21 3/4”. On two half-sheets as issued. Uncolored. Some repair to lower right not affecting printed surface. Very good condition. $240,000.
Johann Ruysch’s 1507 map of the world is one of the true epoch-making works in the history of
cartography. With the exception of the 1506 Contarini-Rosselli map, known only in a single example,
the Ruysch is the earliest printed map to show America. Compared to the accepted Ptolemaic world
view of the time, the Ruysch is nothing less than revolutionary. Suddenly the size of the known surface of the earth more than doubles. Ruysch introduces the Atlantic Ocean and centers the map in such
a way that the entire left sheet represents newly discovered areas.
Engraved on a fan-shaped conical projection, the Ruysch map depicts the wave of geographical
discoveries flooding Europeans at the time. Of immediate impact, the appearance of part of the
Southern Hemisphere and the West Indian Islands endorse Columbus’ view that these new territories
were off the Asian mainland. Greenland has been disconnected from Europe and newly connected to
Asia. In a note, Ruysch speculates that Spagnola [Hispaniola] is probably Spangu [Japan] as reported
by Marco Polo. Cuba is greatly enlarged but cut off by a scroll stating that the Spanish hadn’t completed their exploration of the area - indicating that Ruysch relied more on Portuguese than Spanish
sources. It is also the earliest map to show the polar regions with anything approaching accuracy and
the first to show the result of exploration of the coast of Brazil. In spite of the enormous amount of
information on the New World, the Ruysch map concerns itself just as seriously with discoveries to the
east, and there are equally significant improvements in the mapping of Africa, India and eastern Asia.
The map is extremely rare. It appeared in some editions of Ptolemy’s Geographia of 1507 and in
all editions of 1508, with a few copies apparently issued as separates. This is the fifth state of the map
as defined by Shirley. ref: Shirley, The Mapping of The World, #25, plate 29, Rarity Index R; J. Goss, “The
Remarkable Ruysch Map” in The Map Collector No. 17; S. Schwartz/R. Ehrenberg, Mapping of America, pp. 289; Fite & Freeman 9; Suarez, Shedding the Veil, #12.
9. PETER APIAN, Libro dela Cosmographia De Pedro Apiano... [with two untitled world maps]
Antwerp, 1548.
Quarto. Original limp vellum binding. One folding world map. Numerous woodcuts and working
volvelles, including a second world map on a polar projection. Spanish text edition. $7,500.
A fine example of Apian’s Cosmographia, with the scarce folding world map in the first state.
According to Shirley, this cordiform map is based on a larger world map by Gemma Frisius which has
since been lost. Geographically, North America has shrunk to the form of a narrow peninsula which
has been named Baccalearium in reference to the cod fishing nearby. A number of small drawings of
animals and ships populate the map, as well as a remarkable surround of figures, zodiac signs, clouds,
and windheads, including three cadaverous windheads representing the plague-carrying winds from the
south. The Cosmographia was Apian’s first major scientific work, and it was here that he first suggested his method of using lunar distances to find longitude.
The volume also contains an early polar projection of the world that appeared in the first edition of
the Cosmographia in 1524 [Shirley #51], which is constructed as a volvelle so that the revolution of the
earth around the polar axis can be shown. “A small circular world map appears in this volume by Peter
Apian in which he describes advances in the field of astronomy and geography. His map is a volvelle
on a north polar stereographic projection, and is a rather more detailed rendering than the simple stereographic net printed in Reisch’s Margarita Philosophia of 1512. Apian shows the continents in the
northern hemisphere, and those in the southern hemisphere to 25˚ south. Part of South America appears
with a defined western coastline but is still separate from North America” -- Shirley.
The Cosmographia was first published in 1524 and remained in print for over fifty years. The folding world map first appeared in 1544. ref: Shirley, The Mapping of the World, #82 [block 1], plate 70, Rarity
Index S; and #51, plate 50, Rarity Index U
10. BENEDETTO BORDONE, Libro di Benedetto Bordone Nel qual si ragiona de tuttle l’Isole del
mondo... M.D.XXVIII [with the untitled world map] Venice, 1528.
Small folio. Modern full calf binding. Repairs to titlepage with a section replaced in facsimile. Last
text leaf replaced in facsimile. An excellent example of the map. $39,000.
Rare first edition. Books of islands or Isolario were very popular in fifteenth and sixteenth century Italy. Several very early manuscript volumes are known, while the earliest printed Isolario was published c.1485 by Sonetti and consisted of 49 maps of islands in the Greek Archipelago. Bordone’s
island book greatly expanded the subject matter of the traditional Isolario and is of particular significance for its fine oval world map and early separate map of the North American continent.
For many years, Bordone’s world map was thought to be the first map drawn on an oval projection, but it was actually based on the extremely rare map by Francesco Rosselli compiled c.1508.
Unlike the Rosselli, Bordone’s map omits all antarctic lands and separates the continents of Asia and
America. The lines crossing the map represent six wind directions, which are named in scripted text
outside the map’s edge. Because the Rosselli map is known only in a few examples, this map by
Bordone is the earliest obtainable map to use an oval projection. “In his world map Bordone has essentially provided an outline, with graceful italic script and numerals on each of the islands, providing a
reference for the more detailed maps to follow” -- Shirley.
Also of great significance is the publication in Bordone’s book of one of the earliest separate maps
of America. The small woodcut on the reverse of page VI is called Terra de Lavoratore but recent argument points to it being the entire North American continent. Stretto pte del modo novo depicts the area
corresponding to the latitude of the Caribbean, and the land mass shown below it represents South
America. The ficticious Atlantic islands of Brasil and Asmaide appear here alongside the Azores, as
they did on many maps of the period. Bordone’s volume also contains a plan of Temistitan [Mexico
City] before its destruction by Cortez. ref: Shirley, The Mapping of The World, #59, plate 55; The World
Encompassed, #83; Burden, The Mapping of North America, #8; Suarez, Shedding the Veil, #18.
11. ORONCE FINE, Nova, Et Integra Universi Orbis Descriptio [from: Novus Orbis Regionum]
Paris, 1531.
11 1/4” x 16 1/4”. Uncolored. An excellent example. $65,000.
First edition. “The eminent French cartographer Oronce Fine prepared this double-cordiform map:
a rendering considerably in advance of any others printed earlier. It accompanies the 1532 Paris edition of Johann Huttich and Simon Grynaeus’ Novus Orbis Regionum, a collection of accounts of voyages which had been published in Basle a few months beforehand. The printer in Paris was Christian
Wechel who, it is believed, also sold copies of the map separately. Fine’s map is a detailed woodcut,
geographically much superior to the large oval map by Sebastian Münster-Hans Holbein in the Basle
editions” -- Shirley.
Fine’s double-cordiform map is a logical departure from the early speculative cartography of
Waldseemüller and Ruysch toward the remarkable advances of Gerard Mercator and Michael
Tramezinus at the middle of the sixteenth century. The North American continent remains an extension
of the Asian mainland much along the lines of Contarini and Ruysch. However, monumental discoveries have forever altered the coastlines. Fine has extended the eastern coast of North America southward beyond the discoveries of Gomes and Ayllon, where a peninsular Florida is outlined and named,
and there is a reasonable depiction of the Gulf coast as described by Pineda in 1519. This is the earliest recognizable depiction of a continuous east coast of North America on a printed map. The South
American continent is admirably depicted incorporating discoveries by the Portuguese and by
Ferdinand Magellan. The isthmus of Darian is shown and named as well as the Pacific Ocean Mare
Magellanicum. The west coast of Mexico, although continuous with Asia, is the earliest record on a
printed map of the discoveries of Hernando Cortes.
Oronce Fine was the most prominent French cartographer of the sixteenth century. His doublecordiform projection and his geography were both borrowed by Gerard Mercator for his landmark map
of the world in 1538. ref: Shirley, The Mapping of The World, #66, plate 60, Rarity Index R; The World
Encompassed, #64.
12. SEBASTIAN MÜNSTER, Typus Orbis Univeralis [from: Geographia Universalis vetus et
nova...] Basle, 1540.
10 1/2” x 13 1/2” [including title]. Uncolored. Excellent condition. $5,500.
First edition. The world as viewed in the mind of educated, mid-sixteenth century Europeans is
perhaps best preserved in Münster’s classic map. The books where it appeared, his Geographia and
Cosmographia, would have been found in any library of quality of the period. Though Munster lacked
the sophistication of many of his contemporaries, his world map is adventurous in some important
respects. Of cartographic significance is his use of Bordone’s oval projection, which would later be
used in such world maps as those of Ortelius [1570] and Le Maire/Spilbergen [1618]. Further,
Münster’s is the first world map to name the Pacific Ocean with the use of the term Mare Pacificum.
Following Verrazano’s pattern, the Pacific Ocean cuts deeply inland into North America from the
north, leaving only a narrow isthmus on the east coast at 40 degrees north latitude. Verrazano actually
believed as he gazed over the Outer Banks off of North Carolina, that he was seeing the sea which
would lead him to the China coast. Off the California coast, Japan, still derived solely from Marco
Polo, appears arbitrarily shaped and misplaced to the southeast. Africa is quite accurate in basic outline and, characteristic of the period, shows two lakes in the Mountains of the Moon as the Nile’s source.
Greenland hovers above Canada, stretches over Europe, and connects to Asia, which in turn extends
north of America and nearly meets Greenland again, on the west. This was the result of thinking that
Iceland, Newfoundland, and some northern areas of Canada comprised a single land mass.
Münster’s woodcut map is handsomely decorated with windheads embedded in clouds. Since the
direction of the wind was more vital to navigation during this period than in later ones, each direction
was given a name and took on a personality of its own. This is the first edition of the map, with the
east and west windheads contained within the perimeter of the oval map. ref: Shirley, The Mapping of
The World, #77, plate 67.
13. JOHANN HONTER, Universalis Cosmographia [from: Rudimenta Cosmographica] Zürich,
1546.
4 3/4” x 6 1/2” [on a text sheet measuring 7” x 10 3/4”]. Uncolored. Excellent condition. $1,000.
“In 1546 Honter’s Rudimenta Cosmographica was republished in Zürich with thirteen maps. The
heart-shaped world map is a reduced version of Waldseemüller’s and similar to the previous two world
maps by Honter” -- Shirley. Commissioned by the Zurich publisher, Christoph Froschauer, the woodblock for the world map was cut by Heinrich Vogtherr the Elder whose monogram ‘HVE’ appears in
the lower left-hand corner.
“In the map, Honter has recognized Magellan’s reports of a South American continent and a vast
Pacific Ocean. In the north, the American coastline is shown as parts of a large island, with a direct
route to the East at the equator” -- Portraits of The World.
Johann Honter was a Transylvanian humanist and Protestant reformer who was cited by Abraham
Ortelius in the Catalogus auctorum of his famous atlas in 1570. Honter’s miniature atlas and general
treatise on cosmography, the Rudimenta Cosmographica, was published in response to the popularity
of his earlier books on the subject, some of which were printed on his private press in his native
Kronstadt. The volume was extremely popular and Karrow notes that the “Rudimenta Cosmographica
taught several generations all over Europe their geographical ABC’s, and the little atlas of fourteen
maps that accompanied it was the first widely circulated collection of maps.” ref: Shirley, The Mapping
of The World, #86, plate 73, Rarity Index S; Portraits of The World, #4, pp. 6-7; Karrow, Maps and Mapmakers of
the Sixteenth Century, p. 315.
14. GIACOMO GASTALDI, Universale Nova [from:
Alessandrino... di Meser Iacopo Gastaldo...] Venice, 1548.
La Geografia di Claudio Ptolemeo
5 1/4” x 7”. Uncolored. One wormhole at centerfold. Very good condition. $2,000.
Two years after Gastaldi’s landmark map of the world of 1546, he published this much smaller version for the first compact edition of Ptolemy - the Geographia of 1548. The 1546 Gastaldi was the earliest in the series of world maps by Italian engravers published in LaFreri atlases and one of the most
important maps of the sixteenth century. On both maps, North America is joined to Asia along nearly
its entire length. Some years later, Gastaldi would be the first mapmaker to make separate continents
of Asia and America by creating the Straits of Anian. North and South America are linked on the map
by a narrow isthmus.
The 1546 Gastaldi is an unobtainable rarity, making this 1548 version one of the earliest obtainable examples of Italian cartography from its greatest period in map-making. ref: Shirley, The Mapping
of The World, #87, plate 74, Rarity Index S.
15. ANTONIO SALAMANCA, [untitled world map ‘Ant. Sal Exc.:Romae’ from: Italian composite
atlases] Rome, c.1550/c.1564.
13” x 20 1/4”. Uncolored. Remargined at the time of binding with no loss of printed surface. An excellent example. $95,000.
Gerard Mercator’s revolutionary map of 1538 is chiefly known from this close copy by the Roman
publisher Antonio Salamanca. The Mercator original, his first map of the world, survives in only two
complete examples. “[Salamanca’s] undated copper-plate engraving is an excellent one, with stippled
sea in place of the shading used by Mercator. The panel of text which Mercator placed in the right-hand
part of the map is omitted and its contents transferred to a panel at lower centre” -- Shirley.
The Mercator was the first influential printed map to definitively separate the New World discoveries from the Asian mainland. North America assumed, for the first time, continental proportions. It
was also here that North and South America were first unambiguously joined and the name America
used to encompass both landmasses. This is a thoroughly modern image of the world, which rejects
altogether the lingering Ptolemaic conceptions. Here is the beginning of the mapping of North
America.
This example of the map bears the imprint of Salamanca’s co-publisher and business partner
Antonio LaFreri, who became sole proprietor of the publishing business in 1563. According to Shirley,
editions of the map with LaFreri’s imprint date from c.1564. ref: Shirley, The Mapping of The World, #91,
plate 79, Rarity Index R.
16. ANTONIO FLORIANO, [untitled world map in the form of globe gores from Italian composite
atlases] Venice, c.1555.
18 1/2” x 32 1/2”. Uncolored. Trimmed close and laid down at an early date. Some light discoloration
in the southern hemisphere. Lower centerfold worn. $120,000.
In 1555 Antonio Floriano of Udine addressed himself to the Doge of Venice to obtain a privilege
to print his map of the world: “I, Florian, the very loyal servant of Your Highness and of this Illustrious
Republic, with my diligence and knowledge having made a mappemonde which has never been made
before, with the aid of which one can easily study and learn cosmography and see the entire picture of
the world, since it can be reduced to spheric form.” Floriano also claimed that the map was made by
him “with so much drudgery and sweat, with more heavy toil Your enlightened judgement can imagine.”
The result of Floriano’s toil is this rare and unusual map depicting the two hemispheres each cut
into thrity-six gores comprising 10 degrees of longitude each. In spite of its unique appearance,
Floriano’s map is directly based on Mercator’s double-cordiform map of 1538 with the geography and
place names taken from Mercator without change. Even the system of projection is identical to that of
Mercator if the individual gores are considered one by one. “Still, the Udinese artist has the merit of
having made a world map in gores rather different from that of the Mappa Mercatoriana and had tried
a new manner for projecting the globe” -- Imago Mundi.
“In the top corners of the map are circular portraits of Ptolemy and Floriano himself; the two lower
corner spaces are blank. The engraver of the map has been suggested, without direct evidence, to be
Paolo Cimerlino who in 1556 re-engraved the heart-shaped world map of Oronce Fine” -- Shirley. ref:
Shirley, The Mapping of The World, #99, plate 85, Rarity Index R; Imago Mundi VI (1949), ‘Antonio Florian and
his Mappemonde’ by Rudolfo Gallo, pp. 35-38.
17. PAOLO FORLANI, Universale Descrittione Di Tutta la Terra Conosciuta Fin Qui [from: Italian
composite atlases] Venice, 1565.
16 1/2” x 30”. Uncolored. Excellent condition. $180,000.
A large world map on two sheets. Paolo Forlani was the leading Italian mapmaker of the 1560’s,
one of the greatest decades in the history of cartography. Between 1560 and 1570 he issued four world
maps, this one being the most majestic. “The third of the world maps engraved by Paolo Forlani has
the same title as that of the 1562 but it is in two sheets and considerably larger. In common with both
Forlani’s earlier world maps it is a re-interpretation of Gastaldi’s 1546 map: on this occasion however
a very large and extensive southern continent has been added. As well as imaginary mountain ranges,
Forlani has populated his terra incognita with a host of unlikely animals - among them a lion, a camel,
an elephant, a rhinoceros, a griffin and a unicorn!” -- Shirley.
Forlani’s large world map was published in 1565, the year before Venice would reach the “zenith
of map engraving” -- David Woodward. The map is based on Gastaldi’s landmark world map of 1542,
despite Gastaldi’s having later pioneered the idea of separate Asian and American continents with the
addition of the Strait of Anian in 1562. Forlani here disregards this advance and returns to the earlier
model with North America joined to Asia.
The significance of Forlani’s map is nevertheless indicated by its designation as “remarkable” in
Frederick Muller’s classic work on cartography, Remarkable Maps of the 15th, 16th and 17th Centuries
(Amsterdam, 1897). This is an example of the third state as defined by Shirley, and a superb example
of a very rare map almost never found in the large format. ref: Shirley, The Mapping of The World, #115,
plate 99, Rarity Index R.
18. GERARD DE JODE, Universi Orbis Seu Terreni Globi In Plano Effigies Cum privilegio [from:
Speculum Orbis Terrarum] Antwerp, 1571/1578.
13” x 20 1/4”. Early pink wash color in ocean. Edges reinforced on verso. Generally good condition.
$85,000.
This is the rarest of de Jode’s world maps and the only one accorded an “R” rating by Shirley. It
was originally separately published under a different title before being included in the first edition of
the Speculum in 1578. Ortelius’ first cartographic production, his unobtainable eight-sheet map of
1564, has been skillfully reduced here to a single sheet on the same cordiform projection. This map
and others from the Speculum were executed by brothers Jan and Lucas van Doetecum, “who so skilfully etched most of the maps that they appear to be engraved” -- Shirley.
Gerard de Jode had published the original 8-sheet cordiform map by Ortelius in 1564, but a fierce
competition developed between the two publishers after the appearance of Ortelius’ Theatrum in 1570.
Koeman notes that publication of de Jode’s Speculum was delayed as “Ortelius prevented the granting
of the necessary royal imprimatur, because he wanted to protect his own atlas.” Ortelius appears to
have succeeded in his efforts to undermine de Jode - the Speculum was a failure and very few copies
were sold. Gerard de Jode would not publish the atlas again. After his death, his son, Cornelis de Jode,
re-issued the Speculum in 1593. This world map, however, did not appear in the 1593 edition. It was
replaced by two new world maps [see catalog items #22 and #24].
Although Gerard de Jode’s cordiform world map appeared only in the first edition of the Speculum,
several different states have been recorded. This state adds titles to the oceans - Mare del Sur and
Oceanus Meridionalis - as well as placing the words Tara Incognita across North America. ref: Shirley,
The Mapping of The World, #124, plate 105, Rarity Index R; Koeman, Atlantes Neerlandici, Volume II, pp. 205206.
19. BENITO ARIAS [MONTANO], Benedict Arias Montanus Sacrae Geographiae Tabulam Ex
Antiquissimorum [from: Biblia Sacra, Hebraice, Chaldaice, Graece & Latine...] Antwerp, 1571.
12 1/2” x 20 1/2”. Uncolored. Excellent condition. $12,500.
Rare first issue. This remarkable double hemisphere world map is the earliest map to show
Australia in a shape and location approximating its actual state. Published over thirty years before the
recorded European discovery of Australia, it is believed that the Spanish might have sighted Australia
in the 16th century and this map has been offered as evidence of this fact. The idea becomes more compelling when it is considered that the work in which it appeared, the Plantin polyglot Bible, was
financed in part by Philip II of Spain.
The map illuminates the Biblical story of the populating of the earth by Noah’s offspring and their
descendants. Their names are given in Latin and Hebrew, and in addition to populating Europe, Asia
and Africa, there are four descendants named in North and South America. This would suggest concurrence with a much debated theory that posited migration from Asia to America. The map reinforces
this theory with America firmly attached to the Asian mainland.
The extremely rare polyglot Bible where the map appeared is prized for the quality of its Biblical
scholarship. It is thought that only between 500 and 920 copies were ever printed. Many copies were
apparently lost at sea on the way to Spain, thus increasing its status as a rarity. This is an example of
the first state of the map, of which Shirley notes: “the map from the first edition, of which the greater
number of impressions were lost at sea on route to Spain, has printed on the reverse Oribis Tabula. Ben.
Aria Montano. Auctore.” ref: Shirley, The Mapping of The World, #125, plate 107, Rarity Index R; Shilder,
Australia Unveiled, #20, p. 22; Muller, Remarkable Maps, Volume II, #1.
20. TOMMASO PORCACCHI, Discorso Intorno Alla Carta Da Navigare [from: L’Isole Piu
Famose Del Mondo] Venice, 1572.
4 1/4” x 6” [on a text sheet measuring 9 1/2” x 6”]. Uncolored. Excellent condition. $800.
“The scope of Porcacchi’s pocket-size atlas is implied by its title ‘The most famous islands of the
world.’ As well as many maps of islands, Porcacchi included two world maps engraved by the Paduan
Girolamo Porro, well known as a book illustrator” -- Shirley. This nautical map covers most of the
world, but does not extend further east than just beyond India. ref: Shirley, The Mapping of The World,
#128, plate 109.
21. ABRAHAM ORTELIUS, Typus Orbis Terrarum [from: Theatrum Oribis Terrarum] Antwerp,
1587/1628.
14” x 19 1/2”. Some outline color in a later hand. Excellent condition. $12,000.
This is an example of the extremely rare second state of the 1587 world map plate by Abraham
Ortelius. “A single example of a second state is recorded which has some extra cross-hatching and the
addition of Le Maire’s strait. The presumed date of this version is 1628 when payments were made to
two artists (Arsenius and Van Langren) for their work in correcting some of Ortelius’ maps for a projected new edition. The date 1587 has been erased” -- Shirley.
The geography of the Ortelius world map is based on Mercator’s great map of 1569. “From surviving correspondence it is known that Mercator generously encouraged Ortelius to make use of his
published corpus of research; he also provided him with co-ordinates of places in America and perhaps
elsewhere.” A total of three plates were engraved for the world map in the Theatrum. This example
was engraved in 1587 and corrects the unusual bulged coastline in South America, and marks the
Solomon Islands for the first time.
The importance of the Ortelius’ Theatrum on the history of cartography is impossible to overemphasize. Shirley remarks that “through its launching, pre-eminence in map publishing was transferred
from Italy to the Netherlands leading to over a hundred years of Dutch supremacy in all facets of cartographical production.” ref: Shirley, The Mapping of The World, #158, plate 130.
22. CORNELIS DE JODE, Totius Orbis Cogniti Universalis Descriptio [from: Speculum Orbis
Terrae] Antwerp, 1589/1593.
13 3/4” x 19 3/4”. Uncolored. Strong impression. An excellent example. $22,000.
Scarce. Only one atlas was published by the de Jode family; Speculum Orbis Terrarum issued by
Gerard de Jode in 1578, and then re-issued by his son Cornelis in 1593 as Speculum Orbis Terrae. The
atlas was not a financial success and no other editions were published. Consequently, all maps by de
Jode are quite rare.
Three separate world maps were engraved for the Speculum and each was issued only once; the
1578 edition featured a heart shaped world map by Gerard [see catalog item #18] and the 1593 edition
included this map on a rectangular projection by Cornelis, along with a second unsigned double-hemisphere map [see catalog item #24].
There is a note in the lower right-hand corner stating that Corn: de Iudoejs of Antwerp made the
map in November 1589 at the Academy of Douai and the printer’s signature is that of Cornelis’ father,
Gerard de Jode, but the map was not published until two years after his father’s death. According to
Shirley the map is generally attributed to Marinus of Tyre, with geography based on Mercator and
Ortelius, while in the top corners are two smaller maps showing the eastern and western hemispheres
on Roger Bacon’s circular projection. ref: Shirley, The Mapping of The World, #165, plate 135, Rarity Index
S.
23. JOHANNES MYRITIUS, Universalis Orbis Descriptio... Cogimur E Tabula Pictos Ediscere
Mundos [from: Opusculum Geographicum Rarum...] Ingolstadt, 1590.
10 1/2” x 15 1/2” [including decorative border]. Uncolored. Some minor water-staining in bottom margin. Else excellent condition. $5,500.
Only edition. “Myritius has been described as perhaps the last of the geographers to accept without question the connection of North America with Asia” -- Portraits of The World. The connection of
Asia and America is most prevalent on earlier Italian Gastaldi-type world maps, and Shirley notes that
the choice of place names on the Myritius also points to reliance on an Italian rather than a Dutch
source.
Also of significance, “in the extreme south on the map, we now see something new -- an imaginary continent stretching across the pole. Mercator believed a continent would be found there and his
theory was blindingly accepted and duplicated on maps for over 100 years” -- Portraits of The World.
Published in Ingolstadt Germany in 1590, this handsome oval map is surrounded by sixteen cherubic windheads inside of a heavy decorative outer border. ref: Shirley, The Mapping of The World, #175,
plate 142, Rarity Index R; Portraits of The World, #7, pp. 10-11.
24. CORNELIS DE JODE, Hemispherii Ab Aequinoctali Linea, Ad Circulu Poli Arctici... Ad Circulu
Poli Atarctici... [from: Speculum Orbis Terrae...] Antwerp, 1593.
12 3/4” x 20 1/4”. Uncolored. Strong impression. An excellent example. $38,000.
The 1593 edition of de Jode’s Speculum contained two world maps. The first was signed by
Cornelis de Jode and was drawn on a rectangular projection [see catalog item #22]. The second is
unsigned and “one of relatively few [world maps] drawn as two hemispheres on north and south polar
projections” -- Shirley. This is the world map which Shirley chose for the dust jacket of his book, The
Mapping of The World.
This world map superbly illustrates the changing ideas of cartographers in the second half of the
sixteenth century. In the light of new discoveries, they had to adjust their ideas about the great unknown
south-land. The Portuguese voyages round the Cape of Good Hope had destroyed the concept of a solid
land mass there, and Magellan had shown that there was also a passage at the western extremity.
Ptolemy’s continuous landbridge between Asia and Africa in the south was abandoned in favor of a
large insular Africa which would provide the necessary physical balance to the known continents - a
concept wich derived support from various statements of Marco Polo.
Surrounding each hemisphere is an elaborate border of cherubs and clouds. An adaptation of
Guillaume Postel’s 1581 world map, this map has some curious features reminiscent of the large anonymous globe gores published in Antwerp c.1587 - including an odd junction of the eastern part of Asia
with one of the large arctic landmasses and the placement of Japan only a few degrees west of
California. ref: Shirley, The Mapping of The World, #184, plate 149, Rarity Index S.
25. ARNOLD VAN LANGREN, Typus Orbis Terrarum [separate publication] Amsterdam, c.1594.
12” x 18 1/4”. Later hand color. Considerable repair on verso. $9,500.
Shirley cites only two examples of this extremely rare oval world map by Van Langren. Strongly
based on the Ortelius [see catalog item #21], the map retains the same title and the quotation from
Cicero at the bottom, but the medallions in the corners have been replaced with small maps of the continents.
“Geographically the world outline is similar to Ortelius’ but with some updating e.g. Korea and
Novaya Zemlya derived from Plancius” -- Shirley. ref: Shirley, The Mapping of The World, #186, plate 151,
Rarity Index RR.
26. JODOCUS HONDIUS, Vera Totius Expeditionis Nauticae... Iudocus Hondius [separate publication] Amsterdam [?], c.1595.
15” x 21”. Uncolored. Excellent condition. $135,000.
This extremely rare work by Jodocus Hondius is the single most important map to describe the two
earliest English circumnavigations - those of Sir Francis Drake and Thomas Cavendish. Hondius was
the only early mapmaker to depict Drake’s discoveries around Tierra del Fuego, showing the area as a
group of large and small islands - even though this delineation directly opposed the idea of the large
south-land believed to exist there. Hondius’ own doubts are indicated by the legend reading “Those
islands were placed at the Magellan Strait by Francis Drake. But he is contradicted by Thomas
Cavendish and all Spaniards; it is probable that Drake, driven off by adverse winds, did not investigate
these regions too closely; he even lost two ships there.”
The five engravings of Drake’s flag ship, the Golden Hind or Pelican as it was later called, which
decorate the map are the only representations of the famous ship in existence. Hondius saw the ship
himself while in London, where it was preserved at Deptford on the Thames for a number of years following the expedition.
Hondius focuses exclusively on the two voyages as he points out: “since it is our purpose only to
represent the voyages of Francis Drake and Thomas Cavendish it seemed unnecessary to describe the
interior parts of the earth... wherefore let it suffice the reader if we mention the places seen by the navigators.” Shirley notes that only “seven or eight examples of Hondius’ map are known.” A reduced
version appears in part VIII of Theodore de Bry’s Grands Voyages in 1599. ref: Shirley, The Mapping of
The World, #188, plate 153, Rarity Index RR; Shilder, Australia Unveiled, #15; Fite & Freeman, A Book of Old
Maps, #27.
27. LAMBERT ANDREAS, Typus Orbis Terrarum [from: Theatrum oder Schauspiegel...] Cologne,
1596.
7 3/4” x 11 3/4”. Uncolored. Paper lightly age-toned. A very good example. $1,800.
“Two very similar world maps were published in Cologne in 1596 and in neither case has the
author positively been identified. Attributions include the cartographer Matthias Quad, the engravers
Conrad Löw or Henrich Nagel, or the publishers Lambert Andreas, Johann Bussemacher, Johan Rauw
or J. Natalius Metellus. The first of these world maps is listed under Lambert Andreas, publisher of a
number of topographical works in Cologne in the 1590s” -- Shirley. Andreas’ map is similar in style
and outline to a better-known one by Matthias Quad, except that it is slightly smaller, has a cartouche
noting that there are 5400 German miles around the earth in place of the figure of Christ, and has the
Ciceronian motto printed below the lower border.
Shirley notes that “examples of Andreas’ world map are rarely offered for sale.” Appearing primarily in German translations of a popular Italian politico-geographical book by Giovanni Botero, the
map was also most likely issued as a separate. ref: Shirley, The Mapping of The World, #190, plate 155,
Rarity Index S; Meurer, Atlantes Colonienses, Bot 22.
28. ANONYMOUS, [untitled world map; separate publication] c.1600.
14” diameter. Uncolored. One small area of repair in strapwork border. Very good condition. $6,500.
A very good example of this scarce world map complete with the round decorative border, which
is often lacking. There is no date or identifying author or engraver, but Shirley notes “on stylistic and
geographical grounds the engraving of this oval world map with a circular surround of strapwork can
be dated c.1600, or perhaps earlier.”
Texts from the book of Job are framed at the head and foot, and examples of the map were later
included in Ephraim Pagitt’s Christianographie, or the Description... of Christians in the World, often
without the top and bottom of the plate. ref: Shirley, The Mapping of The World, #224, plate 179, Rarity Index
S; The Map Collector, Issue #25, p. 12.
29. JEAN LE CLERC, Orbis Terrae Novissima Descriptio... Authore Gerardo Mercatore... I Hondius
sculp. I le Clerc excu. 1602 [separate publication] Paris, 1602.
13” x 20”. Uncolored. Very good condition. $4,500.
This is the rare first edition of a separately published world map engraved by Hondius and published by the Parisian Jean Le Clerc. Based on Drake’s hypothesis, the map prophetically shows Tierra
del Fuego, the island at the southern tip of South America, 15 years before it was actually confirmed to
be an island. Other maps of the period delineate it as the northern tip of an enormous southern continent. The significance of an insular shape was that it allowed competitors of the Dutch, who controlled
the Straits of Magellan, an alternate pathway to the Pacific - by rounding the Horn below the island.
Shirley points out that “Hondius [the engraver] has exercised his considerable artistic skill to provide a novel and distinctive border for the central map.” South America has also been corrected from
the potato shape found on the usual Mercator states of the map. ref: Shirley, The Mapping of The World,
#233, plate 185, Rarity Index S.
30. AUGUSTINO TORNIELLO, Situs Partium Paecipuarum Totius Orbis Terrarum [from: Annales
Sacri et Profani...] Milan, 1609/1610.
7 3/4” x 15”. Uncolored. Excellent condition. $1,200.
Second state. “This world map, an etching, is a simplified version of that of Ortelius. It is on an
oval projection with spandrel windhead decorations. There was a second printing of the map from
Milan in 1610 with additional place names such as Nova Guinea and more fully developed cloud
designs and putti in the spandrels” -- Shirley.
According to Shirley, this uncommon world map appears only in the 1609 and 1610 editions of
Torniello’s work published in Milan. Editions of the book published in Antwerp contain a smaller map,
and editions published in Frankfurt lack the world map altogether. ref: Shirley, The Mapping of The World,
#267, plate 210, Rarity Index U.
31. JORIS VAN SPILBERGEN [NICOLAES VAN GEELKERCKEN], Nova Totius Orbis
Terrarum Descriptio [from: Speculum Orientalis...] Leiden, 1619.
12 1/4” x 17 1/2” [including title and map of Novae Guineae]. Uncolored. Excellent condition.
$3,500.
“This world map, considerably larger than that in Schouten’s narrative, depicts the separate outwards voyages of Joris and Jacob Le Maire and the return route of Spilbergen from the East Indies during which the young Le Maire’s death occurred. Rather curiously, Spilbergen’s return voyage is shown
terminating in England rather than in the Netherlands. A rectangular panel at the bottom describes in
detail Le Maire’s discoveries along the northern coast of New Guinea. Spilbergen’s map is on an oval
projection which exaggerates the east-west (and even southerly) line of the Pacific coast of North
America. Near Hudson’s Bay is the phrase in English (taken from the Hondius world map of 1617)
‘The bay wher Hitson did winter.’ The publisher of the 1619 edition was Nicolaes van Geelkercken
who may have been responsible for preparing or engraving the map, although no direct evidence of his
authorship exists” -- Shirley. ref: Shirley, The Mapping of The World, #304, plate 233, Rarity Index R.
32. DANIEL ANGELOCRATER, Novum Orbis Terrarum Schema... ad inventum Daniele
Angelocratore [from: Doctrina De Ponderibus, Monetis et Mensuris...] Frankfurt, 1628.
11” x 21 1/4”. Uncolored. Very good condition. $4,800.
This rare and highly unusual world map by Daniel Angelocrator employs a unique projection
invented by the mapmaker himself. His model was the 1616 world map of Nicolaes van Geelkercken,
a lesser known practitioner in Holland, whose maps are noted for their great breath of North America.
On them, the North Pacific becomes very narrow and Japan approaches the coast of America. On
Angelocrater’s projection, the hemispheres are divided into four quadrants. ref: Shirley, The Mapping of
The World, #320, plate 243, Rarity Index R; Keuning, “Nicolaes Geelkercken,” Imago Mundi XI, pp. 175-176.
33. WILLEM JANSZOON BLAEU, [set of world and continent maps] Nova Totius Terrarum Orbis
Geographica ac Hydrographica Tabula auct: Guiljelmo Blaeuw [and] Asia noviter delineata [and]
Africae nova descriptio [and] Americae nova Tabula [and] Evropa recens descripta. Amsterdam, 1630.
Five maps, approximately 16” x 21 3/4” each. Stunning original color. Excellent condition. $58,000.
[color image of world map on inside back cover]
An exceptionally fine matched set of world and continent maps with decorative borders. “This
classic single-sheet world map on Mercator’s projection, brought out by Willem Blaeu in 1606,
remained in active circulation for over fifty years. It is celebrated as one of the supreme examples of
the map maker’s art” -- Shirley. In its combination of decorative and geographic sophistication, Blaeu’s
single-sheet world map is considered by many as the high point of Dutch cartography. “The map itself
has been expertly reduced from Blaeu’s large world map of 1605, the engraver Josua van den Ende
signing this single-sheet version” -- Shirley. Its finely engraved border panels depict various classical
gods along the top, representations of the seasons on the right, of the elements along the left, and
superbly detailed illustrations of the Seven Wonders of the World along the bottom.
“The most striking characteristics of Blaeu’s map are the superb border decorations” -- Shirley.
The continent maps of Africa, America, Asia and Europe also contain fine decorative borders along the
top and side margins. These depict native figures in local costume along the left and right, and a number of small town views along the top. Burden calls the Blaeu map of the Western Hemisphere “the
classic map of America,” while Norwich notes that the Africa map “is one of the most decorative and
popular of all the early maps of Africa.” ref: Shirley, The Mapping of The World, #255, plate 201, state 4;
Norwich, Maps of Africa, #32; Burden, The Mapping of North America, #189, plate 189.
Americae nova Tabula
Evropa recens descripta
Africae nova descriptio
Asia noviter delineata
34. HENRICUS HONDIUS, Nova Totius Terrarum Orbis Geographica Ac Hydrographica Tabula.
Auct: Henr: Hondio [from: Gerardi Mercatoris Et I. Hondii Atlas...] Amsterdam, 1630.
15” x 21 1/4”. Full original color. Excellent condition. $17,000. [color image on inside front cover]
First edition. As much as any map, this one of the world by Henricus Hondius is identified with
the Golden Age of Dutch Cartography. Its lush ornamentation epitomizes the baroque style favored in
the second, post-Ortelius phase of Dutch mapmaking. More significant, however, the map is reflective
of a period of intense national pride supported by Holland’s burgeoning commercial fortunes. This is
most clearly seen in the portraits in the corners of the maps which include, in addition to the classsical
figures of Caesar and Ptolemy, the Dutch cartographic masters Gerard Mercator and Jodocus Hondius.
The map itself was the product of a partnership between Hondius and Jan Jansson, who joined forces
to compete with the emerging house of Willem Janzoon Blaeu. Their partnership created one of the
most long-lived world maps of the age, appearing in atlases from 1630 to 1666.
Geographically, the map has some unusual features. In the early 17th century, English mapmakers
were dependent on the Dutch for their geography, but in a strange case of reverse influence, Hondius
adapts Speed’s delineation of California as an island. There is a very early representation of the Great
Lakes, as nascent bodies of water appear in the region, and northeast Canada has been redrawn with
Queen Anne’s forland or Baffin Island, which is shown encircled by open water. Schilder notes that it
is one of the earliest maps to deviate from Mercator’s picture of the world. An example of the second
edition of the map is listed below. ref: Shirley, The Mapping of The World, #336, plate 256; Schilder, Australia
Unveiled, #39.
35. HENRICUS HONDIUS, Nova Totius Terrarum Orbis Geographica Ac Hydrographica Tabula.
Auct: Henr: Hondio, Amsterdam, 1641.
Second edition, dated 1641. 15” x 21 1/4”. Full original color. Excellent condition. $15,000.
36. JEAN BOISSEAU, Nouvelle Et Exacte Description De La Terre Universelle... [separate publication] Paris, 1636.
15” x 21 1/2”. Uncolored. Excellent condition. $7,500.
First state. This is the earliest recorded map by this important French mapmaker who, on another
map, was the first to delineate the five Great Lakes on a printed map. His world map is the first French
map to show California as an island. It is a veritable encyclopedia of information and reflects the intellectual requirements of the French market. While Dutch mapmakers like Hondius, whose map was
used as a model, were filling their map borders with artwork, Boisseau filled his with scientific data.
“There are two celestial spheres, textual panels of geographical and astronomical information, circular
diagrams showing the compass points, the names of the winds and the heavenly orbits, and a thirty-year
calendar starting in 1637” -- Shirley. ref: Shirley, The Mapping of The World, #340, plate 258, Rarity Index
S; Portraits of the World, #48.
37. LUIS DE CAMOENS, Hoc Qvod Continet Omnia Scientia Habet Vocis [from: Lusiádas...]
Madrid, c.1639.
9 1/2” x 15 1/4” [including the banner title]. Uncolored. Centerfold worn. Paper lightly age-toned.
Otherwise very good condition. $5,500.
Unrecorded state. The edition illustrated in Shirley consists of simple spheres with no surrounding ornamentation. This edition of the Camoens’ map is a more handsome one, with a large banner title
and decorative floral borders. No mention of this edition is cited in Shirley.
“The 1639 edition of Camoens’ famed Lusiádas contains circular woodcut prints of the old and the new
worlds. The representation is fairly crude with certain features exaggerated such as Tierra del Fuego as
an extensive island, and River Niger greatly enlarged” -- Shirley.
Very few world maps were published in Spain, as the Spanish were notorious for being secretive
of their knowledge concerning the New World. ref: cf: Shirley, The Mapping of The World, #347, plate 264,
Rarity Index U.
38. JEAN BOISSEAU, Nouvelle Description de toute la terre universelle... [separate publication]
Paris, c.1640.
Pair of polar projections, 11 1/2” diameter each. On two sheets. Uncolored. Minor repairs to centerfolds. Very good condition. $12,000.
Very rare, Boisseau’s pair of polar projections provide a unique interpretation of North America.
His delineation of the island of California has no northern coastline and has never been seen before.
The rest of the continent is also unusual and there is no clear source for the geography. The map has
“a key which tables the marks whereby the Roman Catholic, Protestant, Greek, Moslem and pagan religions may be found throughout the world” -- Shirley. ref: Shirley, The Mapping of The World, #351, plate
268, Rarity Index R.
39. JODOCUS HONDIUS / PIERRE MARIETTE, Nova Totius Terrarum Orbis Geographica Ac
Hydrographica... [separate publication] Paris, 1642.
14 3/4” x 21 3/4”. Uncolored. Left margin trimmed close with no loss of printed surface. Very good
condition. $5,500.
First state. “Jodocus Hondius’ world map of 1617 was the prototype for yet a further series of
plates by Parisian publishers. These maps combine Hondius’ geographical outline with variant border
decorations taken from Boisseau’s map of 1636 [see catalog item #36]. Mariette has omitted
Boisseau’s large textual banners but has retained his calendar (starting with 1637), the wind tables and
the heavenly sphere” -- Shirley. ref: Shirley, The Mapping of The World, #358, Rarity Index U.
40. NICOLAS SANSON, L’Hydrographie ou Description De L’Eau... des Mers, Golfes, Lacs,
Destroits, Rivieres principals... [separate publication] Paris, 1652.
15 1/2” x 20 3/4” [including title and text]. Original wash color. Excellent condition. $1,200.
Sanson’s simple world map in two hemispheres is similar in outline to his previous one dated 1651.
However, in this instance no towns are marked because, as the title says, more prominence is given to
marine and river features. “One change Sanson has made is the redesignation of Nouvelle Albion in
north-west America as Terra de Iesso. The Detroit d’Anian has also been re-assigned to just north of
the island of California” -- Shirley. ref: Shirley, The Mapping of The World, #394.
41. DANCKER DANCKERTS, Orbis Terrarum Typus De Integro In Plurimus Emendatus... [from:
Dutch Bible] Amsterdam, 1658.
12” x 18 1/2”. Uncolored. Remargined with slight loss to clean mark. Otherwise very good condition.
$6,500.
This rare world map by Dancker Danckerts was unrecorded until 1982, when an example was discovered by Werner Lowenhardt in a Dutch Bible published by Ravestyn in 1660. The same Bible contained a Paradise map dated 1646 and several maps of the Holy Land - some by Cornelis Danckerts.
Rodney Shirley commented on the discovery in the December 1983 issue of The Map Collector:
“When Mr. Lowenhardt showed me this map by Dancker Danckerts I, too, was surprised that I had not
come across a copy before and that there seemed no previous record of its appearance. Dancker
Danckerts had a relatively short life (1634-1666) and only a few maps with his signiature are extant.”
“The [world] map by Dancker Danckerts is of particular interest because the central part is clearly
from a much earlier and unidentified plate, probably dating from the early 1600s. The oval projection
is also unusual as relatively few maps used this form of projection after about 1580. The original central map has been amended to show south-western Australia and part of Tasmania, marked A van
Dieman’s Landt. The twin celestial hemispheres have also been added later, as has the banner cartouche
supported by twin angels and bearing Danckerts’ imprint” -- Shirley. ref: Shirley, The Mapping of The
World, #403(A), plate 301(A), Rarity Index R.
42. PIERRE DU VAL, Le Planisphere Autrement La Carte Du Monde Terrestre Ou sont exactement
descrites toutes les terres découvertes jusqu’a present... [separate publication] Paris, 1659.
15 3/4” x 32”. Original outline color. Excellent condition. $6,500.
Unrecorded variant. Although Shirley dates this scarce world map 1660, the example being offered
here has a printed date of 1659. “Du Val’s first full-size world map is a restrained and instructive work,
the only extraneous features being the title, dedication, and imprint placed between two hemispheres.
There are two legends of interest relating to America, both reflecting current geographical opinion. The
first describes the territory supposedly discovered by De Vries in 1643: ‘This land of Iesso is separated from Asia and America by large straits or expanses of sea.’ The other is placed between the strait of
Anian (immediately north of the island of California) and New Denmark bordering on Button’s Bay:
‘It is said that this strait communicates between the two seas North and South’” -- Shirley. ref: Shirley,
The Mapping of The World, #420, plate 312, Rarity Index S.
43. JOAN BLAEU, Nova Et Accuratissima Totius Terrarum Orbis Tabula. Auctore Ioanne Blaeu,
[from: Atlas Maior] Amsterdam, 1662.
16” x 21 1/2”. Full original color. Excellent condition. $18,500. [color image on back cover]
“The new world map prepared by Joan Blaeu for his eleven-volume Atlas Maior in 1662 is, unlike
its predecessor, in two hemispheres” -- Shirley. The double hemisphere world map only appeared in
the final editions of the Blaeu atlas, and is less common than the more familiar rectangular world map
with decorative borders [see catalog item #33].
“As with all productions by the firm of Blaeu, the engraving and layout and elegance of decoration are all of the highest standard. The map is invariably printed on thick paper and often superbly
coloured. Outside the twin hemispheres at the top are celestial figures seated amid clouds: below are
representations of the four seasons with each allegorical figure seated in an appropriate chariot quaintly drawn by pairs of beasts and birds” -- Shirley. ref: Shirley, The Mapping of The World, #428, plate 315.
44. PETER STENT, A New and Accurat Map Of The World Drawne according to the best and Late
Discoveries... [separate publication] London, 1663/1665.
15 1/4” x 20”. Later hand color. One small repair to bottom margin not affecting printed surface and
three small wormholes. Very good condition. $22,000.
“Mr. Brian Kentish has brought to my notice a singular world map by Peter Stent, dated 1663. At
first glance it resembles Speed’s world map because of the general similarity of the title, twin hemispheres and the same corner vignettes. However the representations of the four elements in the upper
and lower centre parts of the map are quite different. At the top Stent shows a rainstorm for ‘Water’
and an elephant for ‘Earth’ in place of Speed’s nude figures. Australia has also been given a more complete outline, copied from Stent’s earlier map of 1657” -- Shirley.
“I have only seen this one example of Stent’s map dated 1663 which perhaps may have been prepared for the edition of Robert Fage’s Cosmography in the same year. Professor Globe, based on his
unpublished study of Peter Stent, has reported another state dated 1665” -- Shirley. This is an example
of the 1665 edition. ref: Shirley, The Mapping of The World, #430, plate 317, Rarity Index R.
45. PIETER GOOS, Orbis Terrarum Nova Et Accuratissima Tabula auctore Petro Goos... [from: De
Zee-Atlas ofte Water-Weereld...] Amsterdam, 1666.
17 1/2” x 21 3/4”. Full original color, heightened with gold. On double paper as issued. An excellent
example. $22,000. [color image on inside front cover]
“Pieter Goos’ maritime atlases were held to be among the finest printed at the time and were often
added to the nine or twelve volumes of Blaeu’s Atlas Maior. Goos’ general map is of like quality. The
two expertly engraved hemispheres geographically follow those by Goos’ predecessors, Visscher and
Blaeu. At the top of the map birds large and small -- including a goose -- fly in the beams of a resplendent sun. Beneath, a gracefully composed group of figures represents the four seasons: spring, summer, autumn and winter. The map as a whole is particularly well-balanced and pleasing” -- Shirley. ref:
Shirley, The Mapping of The World, #438, plate 321, Rarity Index S.
46. RICHARD BLOME, A Mapp or Generall Carte of the World Designed in two Plaine Hemisphers
By Monsieur Sanson Geographr to the French King and Rendered into English... by Richard Blome...
[from: A Geographical description of the Four Parts of the World] London, 1670.
15 1/2” x 20 1/2” [including title and decorative border]. Later hand color. Very good condition.
$5,500.
“Richard Blome’s world map, copied from Sanson, was prepared for a geography book published
in 1670, or even in 1669 if an advertisement in the London Gazette is to be believed. The two hemispheres are pleasantly enlivened by emblems from the Royal coat-of-arms along the top, and by hanging garlands and an oval cartouche containing a dedication to Charles II at the bottom. The engraving
was probably done by Francis Lamb who executed most of the other plates in the atlas although
Wenceslaus Hollar and Thomas Burnford contributed one each” - Shirley. Blome supplied the maps for
editions of Bernhard Varenius’ Cosmography and Geography in 1682, 1683 and 1693 where this general map is also found. ref: Shirley, The Mapping of The World, #455, plate 336.
47. JOAN BLAEU / GERARD VALCK, Novus Planiglobi Terrestris Per Utrumque Polum
Conspectus... [separate publication] Amsterdam, c.1672-1673/c.1695.
16” x 21”. Full original hand color. An excellent example. $9,500.
“Underneath Valck’s imprint the erased signature of J. Blaeu can just be discerned, indicating that
this plate was prepared in the last years of Joan Blaeu’s life, in 1672-1673. The projection used -- two
north and south polar views, each extending to the equator -- is not a common one and it has been suggested that Blaeu intended this special map for the Spanish edition of the Atlas Maior which was never
completed” -- Shirley.
A great fire in 1672 destroyed the Blaeu firm, but the plate for the final world map by this distinguished Dutch firm survived. Shirley notes that the plate probably came into Valck’s hands after an
auction sale in 1694 by Wolfgang, the first purchaser of some of Blaeu’s plates. The suggested re-issue
date of c.1695 anticipates the map’s inclusion in the Schenk and Valck atlases of the early 1700s. “No
revisions to the map itself appear to have been made by Valck and the armorial shield above the imprint
cartouche remains blank” -- Shirley. ref: Shirley, The Mapping of The World, #459, plate 338, Rarity Index
S.
48. EBERHARD WERNER HAPPEL, Die Ebbe und Fluth auff einer Flachen Landt-Karten
furgestelt [from: Relationes Curiosae...] Ulm, 1675.
8 1/4” x 11 1/2”. Uncolored. Paper slightly age-toned. Very good condition. $3,500.
“This unusual chart was found by Johann Georg Kohl and identified as the earliest attempt to trace
the more important ocean currents of the world” -- The World Encompassed.
In addition to describing the currents, Happel’s map also marks the locations of several active volcanoes. “Two curious tracks, perhaps denoting some kind of subterranean tunnel, link the Caspian Sea
with the Black Sea and the Persian Gulf. Although conjectural in some parts, the map (like Kircher’s
earlier one in 1665) is a serious attempt to portray scientific phenomena based on reported findings of
seamen and travelers of the time” -- Shirley. ref: Shirley, The Mapping of The World, #468, plate 343, Rarity
Index S; The World Encompassed, #198, plate XXXII.
49. PIERRE DU VAL, [set of world and four continent maps, each map consisting of four sheets]
Carte Vniverselle du Monde..., L’Amerique..., L’Europe..., L’Asie..., L’Afrique... & Table Generale de
Geographie... [separate publications] Paris, 1679-1684.
Five wall maps approximately 32” x 45 1/2” each [consisting of four sheets each, the individual sheets
measuring approximately 16” x 22 3/4”]. Original outline color, excellent condition. $75,000. [world
map from set pictured above]
Pierre Du Val was the son-in-law of the noted cartographer Nicolas Sanson, and he is well known
for issuing several of the most significant maps of North America. His large maps are almost never
found altogether in a set or still in the unassembled sheets, as they are in this set. Each sheet, as issued,
contains its own title and key which are usually trimmed off when the four sheets are joined to form a
single large map.
The world map is shown on Mercator’s projection with the routes to and from the East and West
Indies being marked. The tracks of Le Maire across the Pacific are included as well as an anonymous
attempt in 1665 to find a route to China and Japan through Hudson’s Bay. The magnificent map of the
Western Hemisphere shows California as an Island as well as all five Great Lakes. Perhaps this map
was intended to encourage transoceanic voyages, as the crossings of both the Atlantic and Pacific
Oceans are shown as relatively short distances. The continents of Africa, Asia and Europe include upto-date geographical information and are very decorative with text panels outlining political divisions
of particular regions. ref: Shirley, The Mapping of The World, #489, plate 356, Rarity Index R; Mc Laughlin,
California As An Island, #66, cf: Norwich, Maps of Africa, #38, Tooley #43, Wheat #60, Wagner #414.
50. HENRY OVERTON, A New Mapp of the World printed and Sold by Henry Overton at the White
Horse without Newgate [separate publication] London, c.1690.
16” x 20”. Later hand color. Laid down on paper with some minor losses at folds. $28,000.
This map is not illustrated in The Mapping of The World because Rodney Shirley never saw an
example. His only record of the map was a 1939 catalog of Henry Stevens, Son & Stiles which pointed out that it consisted of “two hemispheres with decorative figures in the corners of the map in groups
of three” -- Shirley. However, by 1992 an example of the map was located in an altas factice in the
library of The New-York Historical Society. In the Addenda to his revised edition, Shirley states “on
stylistic and geographical grounds the plate dates from the 1690’s or earlier; moreover, the pair of figures in the upper left corner is captioned ‘William and Mary King and Queen of England.’ As joint
monarchs, William and Mary reigned from 1689 to 1694 and so the plate may have been originated by
John Overton, Henry’s father.” ref: Shirley, The Mapping of The World, #624; NOTE: no rarity index is given
because Shirley could not confirm the existence of this map.
51. VINCENZO CORONELLI, Planisfero Del Mondo Vecchio Maior [and] Planisfero Del Mondo
Nuova Descritto Dal P. Coronelli, Cosmografo Publico [from: Atlante Veneto] Venice, 1691.
Pair of maps 17 3/4” x 23 3/4” each. Uncolored. Some light browning at centerfolds. Very good condition. $5,800 the pair.
Coronelli’s separate eastern and western hemispheres “are a worthwhile addition to any collection.
They combine the most up-to-date cartographical information with elegant engraving and restrained
accompanying decoration” -- Shirley ref: Shirley, The Mapping of The World, #548, plate 383.
52. VINCENZO CORONELLI, [untitled globe gores from:
1692/1693.
Corso Geografico...] Venice,
Two sets of gores for 15 cm terrestrial and celestial globes, measuring 9 3/4” x 18 1/2” each.
Uncolored. Celestial gores have one clean tear repaired with no loss of printed surface. Otherwise
excellent condition. $4,500 the pair.
“Two sets of gores were reprinted in Coronelli’s Corso Geographico of 1693. The first of these
sets, representing a globe 15 centimeters in diameter, is undated but is believed to have been engraved
in 1692. The gores are reduced in all essentials from Coronelli’s much larger globe gores of 1688 and
likewise carry the tracks of Alexander Chaumont’s voyage from Brest to Siam, and of Le Maire’s passage across the Pacific in 1616” -- Shirley. Included are a set of matching celestial globe gores. ref:
Shirley, The Mapping of The World, #556, plate 387, Rarity Index S.
53. VINCENZO CORONELLI, [untitled globe gores] Venice, c.1693.
Set of gores for a 5.5 centimeter terrestrial globe, measuring 4 3/4” x 6 3/4”. Uncolored. Excellent
condition. $2,500.
These small gores, for a globe 5.5 centimeters in diameter, are usually paired with the celestial
gores and framed by a broad scalloped border. This example consists of only the terrestrial gores.
“Designed for a pocket globe, these gores are very small and have only a limited number of place
names” -- Shirley. ref: Shirley, The Mapping of The World, #557, plate 388, Rarity Index S.
54. ANONYMOUS, Geographia Mosaica Generalis Cum Novissima Orbis Terraquei Facie et
Commentariolis [from: unrecorded publication] c.1694.
12 1/2” x 14”. Uncolored. An excellent example. $4,500.
Most likely of German origin, this rare and unusual world map contains nearly 130 small armorial shields. Those at the top depict German principalities, while those at the bottom depict other states
and countries from around the world. Some thirty shields at the bottom are blank. The crowned double-headed eagle of the Imperial Roman Empire figures in a prominent medallion at the top of the map
beneath a resplendent sun and a banner reading Sig Totum Repleat Orbem. “The engraving generally
is finely and precisely executed, and is enhanced by a peculiar flecked background representing the
refulgent rays of the sun” -- Shirley.
Although Shirley cannot identify the publication in which the map appeared, he notes that “the
hemispheres contain several features which suggest that the map was prepared to accompany a historical or a semi-scientific book. Magellan’s circumnavigation is traced, with the dates of exit and return
and - further back in time - the lands occupied by the sons of Noah (Japhet, Shem and Ham) are so designated. Scientific phenomena marked include volcanos and whirlpools, both taken from Kircher’s thematic map of 1665. In addition, a large number of features such as rivers are numbered on the map,
presumably to be cross-referenced to a separately printed index.” ref: Shirley, The Mapping of The World,
#563, plate 391, Rarity Index R.
55. PIERRE MOULLARD-SANSON, Mappe-monde ou Carte Marine Universelle Reduite [separate publication] Paris, 1695.
18” x 19”. Uncolored. Some minor off-setting. Very good condition. $6,500.
“In 1593 Pierre Moullard (or Moulart) inherited the map plates of his grandfather Nicolas Sanson
and two years later he added the Sanson suffix to his own name. Sanson’s original maps had become
outmoded with the development of scientific cartography through the Academy of Sciences in France,
and attempts by Moullard-Sanson to maintain continuity of publication were not successful. Two new
world maps by him dating from 1695 are extant. One here described is on Mercator’s projection with
detailed recording of the day’s length according to the sun’s zodiacal position, thus allowing (in theory) a means of calculating degrees of longitude” -- Shirley. ref: Shirley, The Mapping of The World, #573,
plate 395, Rarity Index R.
56. CAREL ALLARD, Planisphaerium Terrestre, Sive Terrarum Orbis... Auctore Carolo Allard...
[from: Atlas Minor] Amsterdam, 1696.
20 1/2” x 23 1/2”. Full original color. Excellent condition. $4,500.
This is the second world map by Dutch cartographer Carel Allard. “The traditional decorative border of many seventeenth century world maps has disappeared, and Allard’s own twin central hemispheres are surrounded by eight smaller projections depicting the world from various angles, and four
smaller circular diagrams. The dark cross-hatched background provides a striking contrast, and similar maps were to be produced in the early eighteenth century by Schenk, Zurner, Homann and Seutter”
-- Shirley. Allard’s map would be re-issued by Covens & Mortier in the 1730’s. ref: Shirley, The Mapping
of The World, #578, plate 398.
57. JACOB ROBYN, Nieuw Aerdsch Pleyn... [separate publication] Amsterdam, c.1696.
23 1/2” x 20 3/4”. Uncolored. Excellent condition. $35,000.
Unique proof state of the map listed opposite. This is an unrecorded strike of the Robyn plate
before Jacob Harrewyn engraved the mythological scenes in the corners of the plate [see catalog item
#58]. In addition, there are a number of place-names and islands not appearing on this state which are
present on the map in 1696. On this proof, Robyn’s signature has not yet been engraved in the cartouche. ref: cf: Shirley, The Mapping of the World, #582.
58. JACOB ROBYN / CORNELIS
DANCKERTS, Nieuw Aerdsch Pleyn...
Iacobus Robyn Cum Privilegio...
Amsterdam, 1696/c.1700.
Pair of celestial and terrestrial spheres
measuring 23” x 20 1/2” each. Full original color. Full margins. Excellent condition. $39,000. [color image on inside
back cover]
Unusual with full margins. We have
never seen an example of either the terrestrial or celestial map which has not
been trimmed on the sides with loss of
printed surface, as the map had to be
trimmed to fit into the atlas. Published
by Cornelis Danckerts, this pair was
most likely separately issued c.1700.
The terrestrial map is a single-sheet
version of Robyn and Donker’s large
four-sheet map of the world (1687) in a
single circle. “It seems very likely that
this single-sheet version by Jacob Robyn
was also devised by Andreas van
Luchten-burg whose participation is
acknowledged on the companion celestial map. The new and distinctively
drawn mythological scenes in the corners of the map were almost certainly
engraved by Jacob Harrewyn who collaborated closely with both Robyn and
Luchtenburg at this time” -- Shirley.
The map is on the equidistant
azimuthal projection centered on the
north pole. The same projection was
used by J.B. Nolin for his version of
Cassini’s world map also published in
1696. Robyn has not updated the interior of North America, “where only one
large Great Lake is indicated and Nieu
Nederland is still marked rather than
New York as it became in 1664” -Shirley. ref: Shirley, The Mapping of The
World, #582, plate 402, Rarity Index R.
59. JEAN BAPTISTE NOLIN, Le Globe Terrestre Representé En Deux Plans-Hemispheres Dressé
sur les dernières Observations... [separate publication] Paris, 1700/1708.
46 3/8” x 59” when assembled. Original outline color. On seven separate sheets as issued. Excellent
condition. $75,000.
One of the few maps in Shirley with a “RRR” rating. This is an example of the second edition,
unassembled. “This splendid Globe Terrestre by J.B. Nolin, dated 1700, is one of the finest large-scale
world maps to be produced and is a fitting bridge between the geographical and artistic skills of the seventeenth century and the century to come” -- Shirley. Superbly engraved, the map is the result of a partnership between Nolin and the celebrated painter Bocquet, who carried out Nolin’s extraordinary conception with stunning results. The two hemispheres are supported by large mythical figures and surrounded by images of the creation of heaven and earth. The elaborate decorative border contains sixteen medallion vignettes, each depicting an event in biblical history according to contemporary terms.
The original 1700 edition of Nolin’s map was the first to delineate the famous Mer de l’Ouest in
North America, giving fuel to the prominent fantasy of a Northwest Passage. Nolin’s delineation of
Australia contains an entirely new eastern coastline, “linking Papua-New Guinea and Tasmania in one
sweep. This feature is to be found on many later 18th century maps and was not to be corrected until
the discoveries of Captain Cook in the 1770’s” -- Shirley.
The map was extensively updated for this second edition, dated 1708. The Mer de l’Ouest has been
decreased in size, and the Great Lakes re-drawn. The dedication is now to the Abbe Bignon. ref:
Shirley, The Mapping of The World, #605, plate 417, Rarity Index RRR.
60. WILLEM JANSZOON BLAEU, Pair of Terrestrial and Celestial Globes, 1602/1621.
Pair of 23 cm globes on original wooden stands. Some minor restoration to terrestrial globe, part of
one brass meridian has been replaced. Excellent condition. $425,000.
These are the earliest 17th century globes by Willem Janszoon Blaeu, who is considered “the greatest 17th century globemaker” -- Van der Krogt. They are also among the rarest, “[since] so few copies
of this issue are known to exist, it has been thought that for some reason Blaeu issued a very limited
number. We know, however, that his terrestrial globes were highly valued and were much in demand,
because of the care with which they had been prepared, because of the efforts to give information concerning latest discoveries, and because of the loxodromic lines which made them a special value to navigators; that his celestial globes found favor by reason of the fact that he was known to be a pupil of
Tycho Brahe, and that he himself was known to be a mathematician and astronomer of distinction” -Stevenson.
This is the earliest of only two known states of Blaeu’s 23 cm globes and the only pair of this state
known in America. In fact, it is the very earliest pair of Blaeu globes in this country: there are no
recorded examples in America of Blaeu’s one previous globe pair, an uninspired work from 1599 -- “a
matter-of-fact map without much decoration” -- Globi Neerlandici. The 23 cm. globes described here
are dated 1602 but were probably issued after 1618 as they include discoveries of the mariners Schouten
and Le Maire. A much later state of these globes was issued by Joannes van Ceulen in c1682. ref:
Dekker, Globes at Greenwich, pp. 278-282; Stevenson, Terrestrial and Celestial Globes, Volume II, p.30; Van der
Krogt, Globi Neerlandici, p. 488; Van der Krogt, Old Globes in the Netherlands, p. 55.