Acquired From: Gowrie Galleries
Colouring: Uncoloured
Condition: Excellent
Confirmed: 29/09/2024
Date Acquired: 7/4/2005
Dealers ID No.: M512/1 (STK1507.01)
Description: This double-hemisphere world map is the first of two engraved by Jodocus Hondius I for the Parisian publisher Jean Le Clerc, with the second rendered in an oval projection (#110). The map exists in three distinct states: the first, dated 1602, is intact without significant plate damage; the second, produced around 16201621, is marked by a missing upper-left corner due to a broken copper plate; and the third, dated 1633, retains evidence of the damaged corner.nThe map is based on Rumold Mercator's 1587 double-hemisphere map, itself derived from Gerard Mercators 1569 world map. Hondius preserves Mercators depiction of the vast, uncharted Terra Australis dominating the southern hemisphere. This speculative landmass is labelled with names from Marco Polo's travel accounts, such as Beach and Maletur, positioned south of Iava Maior. To the west, an inscription identifies the landmass as "Magellanica," named after Ferdinand Magellan, with a note suggesting that some believed it to be a continent.nHondius introduces significant updates to Mercator's map, particularly in the depiction of South America. He removes the exaggerated bulge along the southwest coast, aligning it more closely with contemporary knowledge. Additionally, Hondius presents Tierra del Fuego as a series of islands south of the Strait of Magellan (Fretum Magellanicum). Among these islands are the Queen Elizabeths Islands (Insulae Reginae Elisabethae), which Hondius attributes to Sir Francis Drakes 1578 explorations.nThe maps bottom cartouche features a Latin inscription from Psalm 24:12: Domini est terra, et plenitudo ejus: orbis terrarum, et universi, qui habitant in eo. Quia ipse super maria fundavit eum. (The earth is the Lords, and the fullness thereof; the world, and all who dwell therein. For He has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers.)nThe hemispheres are surrounded by four circular diagrams. The lower corners feature illustrations of the phases of the moon and Earths climatic zones, merging astronomical and geographic knowledge.nLe Clerc's map was issued both separately and as part of the Mercator-Hondius Atlases. It was also included in Le Clercs own atlas, Théatre Géographique du Royaume de France.
Engraver: Hondius, Jodocus (1563-1612)
First published: Separate Publication.
Image Size (cm): 33×51
Mapmaker: Le Clerc, Jean (ca.1560-ca.1621)
Other states: First (1602) and Third (1633)
Price: A14,324.78 plus gst (USA1000)
Primary Category: World
Purchase Reference: Inv. 2632
Rarity: R2 Very rare – one or two copies appear on the market
Sheet size (cm): 40.5×53.5
Shirley ID #: 233 Mapping the World
Technique: Copper Engraving
This state: 1620, Second
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