This fine beautifully hand coloured original antique map
of the Island of Bermuda was published in
the 1639 French edition of Mercators
Atlas by Jan Jansson and Henricus Hondius.
A much sought after map of Bermuda, with decorative
cartouche, compass rose with the Island divided into
lots and tribes, listed at the base of the map.
Background:
Like all 17th century
maps of Bermuda this map is based ultimately on the
survey made by John Norwood of the Bermuda Company in
1618 in the form as published by the English map-maker
John Speed in 1627.
Although discovered in 1515 by Spaniard Juan de Bermudez,
after whom the island is supposedly named, it was the
shipwreck of a party of Virginia colonists in 1610 led
by Sir George Somers that gave Bermuda its first known
inhabitants. The Latin title reflects this fact, for
Aestivarum Insularum
means
summers (or Somers) Islands. The experience of Somers
and his men inspired William Shakespeare, who dispatched
Ariel to "fetch dew from the still-vext Bermoothes" and
populated the islands with the cast of The Tempest.
The place names and the list of Proprietors given
below the map itself all recall the original members of
the Bermuda Company, the latter being listed as eight
tribes (or parishes).
In 1610, the Virginia Company, in a True Declaration
of the Estate of the Colonie of Virginia, said of
Bermuda: These Islands of Bermudos, have evere beene
accounted as an inchaunted pile of rocks, and a desert
inhabitation for Divels; but all the Faities of the
rockes were but flocks of Birds, and all the Divels that
haunted the woods, were but heards of Swine.
In the upper left-hand and right-hand corners of the map
appear the adjacent coasts of the North American
colonies of Virginia and New England with, just below
the cartouche a tiny outline of Bermuda itself, intended
to show its correct proportion and position against the
mainland.(Ref Tooley M&B)
Condition Report
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color: - off white
Age of map color: - Original
Colors used: - Red, yellow, green
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 22 1/2in x 19 1/4in (570mm x 485mm)
Plate size: - 20 1/2in x 15 3/4in (520mm x 400mm)
Margins: - Min 1in (25mm)
Imperfections:
Margins: - Light age toning
Plate area: - Light
age toning
Verso: -
Light age toning
If you wish to discuss this or any other item
please email or call...Simon
61 (0) 409 551910 Tel
simon@classicalimages.com
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