Catalog Archive
Auction 146, Lot 396

"Magnae Britanniae et Hiberniae Nova Descriptio", Jansson, Jan

Subject: Britain

Period: 1646 (circa)

Publication: Novus Atlas

Color: Hand Color

Size:
21.6 x 16.9 inches
54.9 x 42.9 cm
Download High Resolution Image
(or just click on image to launch the Zoom viewer)

Jan Jansson based this elegant piece on Willem Blaeu's 1631 map of the British Isles. The isles themselves are densely detailed, with a great deal of towns, rivers, and topographical features identified. There are three strapwork cartouches, encasing the title, an inset of the Orkney Islands, and a trio of distance scales. A royal coat of arms appears at top left, flanked by a lion and a unicorn, and several sailing ships, two compass roses, and a sea monster fill the ocean. Latin text on verso.

References: Shirley (BI to 1650) #576.

Condition: B

A nice impression in old color with light offsetting that is common with maps from this atlas and faint foxing. The map has been expertly remargined with a portion of neatline replaced in facsimile, and several additional tears that enter half to two inches into image that have also been professionally repaired.

Estimate: $550 - $700

Sold for: $400

Closed on 9/4/2013

Archived