This beautifully hand coloured
original antique map of South Africa was published in the 1641
German
edition of Joan Blaeus Atlas Novus.
Unusual full wash colouring, sea colouring a bit streaky
but overall a very nice map.
This
handsome map formed the standard for the depiction of
South Africa throughout the 17th century, covering the
region from Congo-Zanzibar to the Cape. Both Blaeu & Jansson
based this map on Portuguese exploration and most detail
is confined to the coastlines. There are two large lakes
in the interior, one unnamed and the other called
Zachef, which is the lake out of which the
Zambere (Zambesi River) flows, probably based on
reports of Lake Ngami, which was not conclusively
discovered until the mid 19th century. The interior
shows the mythical Mountains of the Moon or Lunae
Montes. Indigenous animals including elephants and
monkeys are illustrated, while large galleons sail the
sea. The dramatic title cartouche is drawn on an ox hide
held up by natives, with monkeys and turtles at their
feet. French text on verso.
The first
separately printed map of Africa (as with the other
known continents) appeared in Munster's Geographia
from 1540 onwards and the first atlas devoted to
Africa only was published in 1588 in Venice by Livio
Sanuto, but the finest individual map of the century was
that engraved on 8 sheets by Gastaldi, published in
Venice in 1564. Apart from maps in sixteenth-century
atlases generally there were also magnificent marine
maps of 1596 by Jan van Linschoten (engraved by van
Langrens) of the southern half of the continent with
highly imaginative and decorative detail in the
interior. In the next century there were many attractive
maps including those of Mercator/Hondius (1606), Speed
(1627), Blaeu (1 630), Visscher (1636), de Wit (c.
1670), all embellished with vignettes of harbours
and principal towns and bordered with elaborate and
colourful figures of their inhabitants, but the interior
remained uncharted with the exception of that part of
the continent known as Ethiopia, the name which was
applied to a wide area including present-day Abyssinia.
Here the legends of Prester John lingered on and, as so
often happened in other remote parts of the world, the
only certain knowledge of the region was provided by
Jesuit missionaries. Among these was Father Geronimo
Lobo (1595-1678), whose work A Voyage to Abyssinia
was used as the basis for a remarkably accurate map
published by a German scholar, Hiob Ludolf in 1683.
Despite the formidable problems which faced them, the
French cartographers G. Delisle (c. 1700-22), J.
B. B. d'Anville (1727-49) and N. Bellin (1754) greatly
improved the standards of mapping of the continent,
improvements which were usually, although not always,
maintained by Homann, Seutter, de Ia Rochette, Bowen,
Faden and many others in the later years of the century. (Ref:
Norwich; Tooley; M&B)
General Description:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color: - off white
Age of map color: - Early
Colors used: - Yellow, pink, red, blue, green
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 22in x 18in (560mm x 460mm)
Plate size: - 20in x 15 1/2in (510mm x 395mm)
Margins: - Min 1in (25mm)
Imperfections:
Margins: - Small repair to left bottom margin, light
soiling in margins
Plate area: - Bottom centerfold re-joined, no loss light
soiling
Verso: - Light soiling
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