This very large
beautifully hand coloured original antique map of
Scandinavia was published by Laurie & Whittle in 1794 -
the date is engraved in the title cartouche.
Before the
fifteenth century the peoples of Southern Europe had
little geographical knowledge of the Scandinavian world
except from sketchy detail shown in the Catalan Atlas
(1375) and on a number of 'portolani' embracing Denmark
and the southern tip of Norway. It was not until 1427
that a manuscript map prepared about that time by
Claudius Clavus (b. 1388), a Dane who had spent
some time in Rome, made available to scholars a
tolerable outline of the northern countries and
Greenland. That was to remain the best map available for
the rest of the century and it was used as the basis for
maps of Scandinavia in early printed editions of
Ptolemy. Others by Nicolaus Cusanus (1491) and Ehrhard
Etzlaub (c. 1492) followed but, needless to say, these
are extremely rare; even the later maps by Olaus Magnus
and Marcus Jordan, where they have survived at all, are
known only by very few examples. In fact, apart from the
rare appearance of an early Ptolemy map, the oldest of
Scandinavia which a collector is likely to find are
those in Munster's Cosmography published in 1544
with many later editions. In the following centuries the
comparatively few maps and charts compiled in
Scandinavia were usually published in Amsterdam,
Antwerp, Paris or Nuremberg, the more important maps
often being incorporated in the major Dutch, French and
German atlases. (Ref Tooley M&B)
General
Description:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color: - off white
Age of map color: - Original
Colors used: - Pink, red, yellow, blue
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 29in x 21 ˝in (740mm x 545mm)
Plate size: - 26 ˝in x 19 ˝in (670mm x 495mm)
Margins: - Min 1in (25mm)
Imperfections:
Margins: - None
Plate area: - Light age toning along centerfold
Verso: - None
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