Hessel Gerritsz was apprenticed to Blaeu as an engraver before starting his own business. He then was appointed Cartographer to the Dutch East India Company and subsequently held the same position in a newly formed West India Company. Gerritsz traveled to South America and the West Indies in 1628, and his maps of South America laid the foundation for many other cartographers. This map shows a well detailed coastline, but only a few interior place names and a rudimentary depiction of the Lesser Antilles. The map is beautifully engraved with decorative title and distance scale cartouches and a large compass rose.

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Condition: A

Attractive color on a sheet with professional repairs in blank margins, not affecting map.