Chica sive Patagonica et Australis Terra

Acquired From: Leen Helmink

Colouring: Uncoloured

Condition: Very Good

Confirmed: 3/10/2024

Date Acquired: 14/6/2019

Description: Johannes Metellus was a French humanist with wide-ranging interests in cartography, geography, law, paleography, and antiquarianism. He spent much of his early life travelling across Europe, building connections with fellow humanists, particularly in Italy. Later, he moved to Louvain, which is notable because it was there that the first edition of Cornelis Wytfliets maps of the Americas was published in 1597. Metellus eventually settled in Cologne, where he became involved in its cartographic publishing industry.nIn 1579, Metellus published Geographische und historische Beschreibung der überaus grosser Landtschafft America (Geographical and Historical Description of the Very Large Territory of America), which included nineteen maps drawn from Wytfliet's atlas, such as this map Chica sive Patagonica et Australis Terra. Like Wytfliet's map, Metelluss is divided into two sections. The upper half, using a standard projection, portrays the southern tip of South America (Chica sive Patagonum Regio), separated by a strait from a large, speculative southern landmass labeled Australis Terrae Pars.nThe lower section of the map, drawn in a polar projection, presents a vast Terra Australis comprising four peninsulas extending toward the southern tips of the known continents. One peninsula reaches toward the Cape of Good Hope, while another stretches into the Indian Ocean, ending just south of Java Major and featuring place names such as Maletur Regnum, Beach, and Lucach Regnum. A third peninsula extends toward Nova Guinea, separated by a narrow strait. The fourth peninsula, incomplete on the map, likely points toward South America.

First published: Metellus, Johannes Geographische und historische Beschreibung der uberauss grosser Landtschafft America: welche auch West India und ihrer grösse halben die New Welt genennet wirt. Cologne: Johanne Christoffel,1598

Mapmaker: Metellus, Johannes (1517-1597)

Price: 2,800

Primary Category: World

Purchase Reference: Ledger 2022

Rarity: R1 Extremely rare – occasionally seen on the market

Technique: Copper Engraving

This state: 1598