Subject: Western Hemisphere - America
Period: 1699 (dated)
Publication:
Color: Hand Color
Size:
22.3 x 15.8 inches
56.6 x 40.1 cm
This is Sanson's unusual composition showing ancient geography within a contemporary outline of the Americas, which is noted in the cartouche as the mythical island of Atlantis. This is a purely topographical map and the only cities shown are Mexico City and Cuzco, the capitals of the New World. The continents are divided into ten regions, named for the ten sons of Neptune. The Great Lakes are shown but still very misshapen. A large lake in the western part of North America is the source of a river that empties into the sea between the continent and the island of California. In South America, the mythical Lake Parime appears just north of the equator, but is not named. The map includes both Asian and European coastlines and bits of New Guinea, New Zealand, and Australia. This is the fourth state as indicated by Burden, with an extension to the cartouche adding Novus Orbis Potius Altera Continens Sive to the beginning of the title.
References: Burden #405; McLaughlin #46; cf. Tooley p. 124, #51.
Condition: B+
A sharp impression on watermarked paper with light soiling, minor toning along the edges of the sheet, and damp stains in the bottom blank margin that do not affect the map image.