Subject: South America
Period: 1699 (dated)
Publication: Atlas Novus
Color: Hand Color
Size:
14.1 x 9.1 inches
35.8 x 23.1 cm
A crisply engraved map of South America filled with towns and pictorial representations of the mountainous topography. Near Guyana, the fictitious lake of Parime is named with the mythical city of Dorado shown upon its shores. A number of ships sail the seas, and the map is decorated with a cartouche showing the bounty of South America, including fat-tailed sheep. The scale of miles is topped with the symbol for the Society of Jesus. Heinrich Scherer, professor of mathematics at Munich, was a devout Jesuit. Many of the maps and plates in his atlas emphasize the Catholic hierarchy and the spread of Jesuit missions throughout the world.
References: Shirley (BL Atlases) T.SHER-1a #114.
Condition: A
A bright, clean example with a dark impression and a tiny hole in southern South America.