Americae Novissima Descriptio

Acquired From: Leen Helmink

Colouring: Uncoloured

Condition: Very Good

Confirmed: Yes

Date Acquired: 17/2/2011

Description: This is the first published edition of Jodocus Hondiuss rare map of the Americas, Americae Novissima Descriptio. It forms part of a group of six maps engraved by Hondiustwo world maps and four continental mapslater published between 1602 and 1605 by Jean Le Clerc in Paris.nAlthough the map bears the date 1589 in the crtouche and the imprint I. Hondius inven. et I. le Clerc excu. 1602, scholarly debate has long surrounded its dual dating and context of its creation. nPhilip Burden (1996) argued that, while the map may have been engraved in 1589, it was not published until 1602 by Jean Le Clerc. He noted that its geographyparticularly the chain of islands extending from the Strait of Magellan toward New Guineaappears earlier than Hondiuss world map of 1595 and wall map of 1598 and that its treatment of Japan and Greenland reflects his earlier London style.nGünter Schilder (2007) later placed primary emphasis on the inclusion of Sir Francis Drakes discoveries as evidence of the 1589 date. He drew attention to the "Insulae Reginae Elisabetae" (Queen Elizabeths Islands) shown south of Cape Horn, accompanied by the inscription Insulae Reginae Elisabetae ab Anglis detectae Anno 1579. This inscription, drawn from Drakes circumnavigation, suggests Hondius engraved the map in 1589, when such English information first circulated.nTaken together, Schilders and Burdens analyses suggest a two-stage history for the map: engraved by Hondius in 1589, and first published by Le Clerc in 1602.

First published: Paris: Jean Le Clerc, 1589. Separate publication

Mapmaker: Hondius, Jodocus (1563-1612)

Price: 60,000

Primary Category: Americas

Purchase Reference: Ledger 2022. Inv. 2011-010. See also email 24 Nov 2012

Rarity: R1 Extremely rare – occasionally seen on the market

References: Philip D. Burden, The Mapping of North America: A List of Printed Maps, 15111670 (Rickmansworth: Raleigh Publications, 1996), no. 87, p. 145.nGünter Schilder, Monumenta Cartographica Neerlandica, vol. 8 (Alphen aan den Rijn: Canaletto/Repro-Holland, 2007), pg 32

This state: 1602, First published edition

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