Subject: Strait of Magellan
Period: 1646 (circa)
Publication: Atlas Novus…
Color: Hand Color
Size:
20.8 x 16.1 inches
52.8 x 40.9 cm
This is one of the most elaborately decorated maps to focus on the tip of South America with the Strait of Magellan and Le Maire Strait. The coastlines are depicted as very mountainous, while the interior is completely without detail. Instead the region is filled with a hunting scene, exotic birds including rheas and penguins, and a quaint scene of village life. The map is further adorned with a pair of compass roses, three sailing ships, and four beautiful cartouches. The key to the map is in a strapwork cartouche held aloft by putti, while the dedication cartouche at right is left blank. The cartouches arrayed across the bottom of the map present a unique distance scale in checkerboard format and the title with a tribe of Fuegian natives, penguins and shells. This is the first state with a blank verso.
References: Van der Krogt (Vol. I) #9950:1C.1.
Condition: A
A dark impression with minor printer's ink residue and a small, professionally repaired hole in border below penguins, with border expertly replaced in facsimile.