Typus orbis terrarum

Acquired From: Leen Helmink

Colouring: Uncoloured

Condition: Good

Confirmed: Yes

Date Acquired: 2021

Dealers ID No.: 19137 also #572a

Description: Claes Jansz. Visscher was a leading Amsterdam map publisher whose output played a central role in shaping Dutch cartography in the first half of the seventeenth century. He established his publishing house in 1611 on the Kalverstraat, close to leading contemporaries such as Pieter van den Keere (View Record (#8), View Record (#109), View Record (#122), View Record (#155), View Record (#217), View Record (#273), View Record (#285)) and Jodocus Hondius I (View Record (#80), View Record (#212), View Record (#253), View Record (#272)). The firm was continued by his son Nicolaes Visscher I (View Record (#25), View Record (#93), View Record (#129), View Record (#287), View Record (#299)) and later by his grandson Nicolaes Visscher II, maintaining its prominence well into the eighteenth century.nFollowing the death of the publisher Cornelis Claesz. in 1612, the copperplates for Barent Langeness Caert-thresoor (1598; #294, View Record (#295), View Record (#296), View Record (#383), View Record (#388)) passed through several hands before being acquired by Visscher. In 1649 he reissued and expanded this material as Tabularum geographicarum contractarum libri quatuor denuo recogniti, a compact atlas divided into four parts: Europae, Asiae (titlepage, View Record (#10)), Africae, and Americae nova descriptio.nAlongside the inherited Caert-thresoor plates, the 1649 edition includes twenty-three newly engraved maps, among them t Landt van de Eendracht (View Record (#12)), Anthoni van Diemens Landt aldaereerst beseylt ofte ontdeckt by de Schepen Heemskerck ende Zeehaen den 24 November 1642 (View Record (#11)), Java Maior (View Record (#371)), and several plates engraved engraved by Benjamin Wright (View Record (#369), View Record (#370)). The atlas also includes two revised world maps: Typus Orbis Terrarum (this map) and Iehova (View Record (#293)), both originally engraved fifty-one years earlier by Jodocus Hondius for Langeness Caert-thresoor (1598; #294 and View Record (#296)).nIn this revised state, Visscher retained the essential structure of the original oval-projection, including the strapwork frame, the oval title cartouche, and the Psalm 24:1 inscription Domini est terra et plenitudo eius (The earth is the Lords, and the fullness thereof). Hondiuss signature has been replaced with Visschers, and the plate discreetly marked a-3 within the strapwork at lower right. nWhile the overall framework remained intact, Vischer made significant changes to the southern continent. In the original version, Terra Australis nondum cognita formed an extensive, continuous landmass, including the toponym Psitacorum regio. On this map, much of that landmass has been removed. In the western hemisphere, however, a remnant coastline remains south of South America, extending northward from the Antarctic Circle toward Guinea Nova. nIn the eastern hemisphere, the speculative landmass has been replaced by the toponyms t'Lant van d'Eendracht (Australia) and A. van Diemen's Lant (Tasmania), reflecting geographical knowledge derived from Abel Tasmans voyage of 16421643.

Engraver: Visscher, Claes Jansz. (1587-1652)

First published: Tabularum geographicarum contractarum libri quatuor denuo recogniti, Amsterdam: Claes Jansz. Visscher, 1649

Image Size (cm): 12.5×8.5

Mapmaker: Visscher, Claes Jansz. (1587-1652)

Other states: 1598

Price: Purchased with entry #293

Primary Category: World

Purchase Reference: Email 22/05/2021

Rarity: R1 Extremely rare – occasionally seen on the market

References: Peter van der Krogt, ed., Koemans Atlantes Neerlandici, vol. 3 (t Goy-Houten: HES & De Graaf, 1997)

Sheet size (cm): 18.5×15

Technique: Copper Engraving

This state: First

Website: Click here