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. Although Gerritsz actually traveled to the area during his voyage to South America and the West Indies undertaken in 1628, this map obviously lacks first-hand knowledge, except along the coastline. The interior is dominated by the huge lake (Parime Lacus) with the legendary city of El Dorado (Manoa, o el Dorado) on its shores. The map is beautifully engraved with decorative title and distance scale cartouches and a large compass rose.

References: Shirley (BL Atlases) G.LAET-1a.

Condition: B+

A crisp impression on a lightly toned sheet with a horn coat of arms watermark, faint offsetting, and a few small dampstains along the centerfold at top and the edges of the sheet.