This is a beautifully decorated map of the tip of South America with the Strait of Magellan and Le Maire Strait. The strategic importance of the place and the difficulties of navigation made this a notable chart, although it is not very accurate. The map graphically depicts the rugged mountainous terrain. The coastlines of Tierra del Fuego are incomplete. Notations describe the first Dutch expedition through the strait and a description of giants of vast magnitude said to inhabit the region. At the right is the Strait of Le Maire named after Jacob Le Maire, a Dutch navigator who transited the area in 1615-1616 with Willem Schouten. The map is richly decorated with a central compass rose, galleons, sea monsters, and penguins. French text on verso, published between 1639-49.

References: Moreland & Bannister p. 255; Van der Krogt (Vol. I) #9950:1B.

Condition: B+

Full contemporary color with light toning and soiling that is mostly concentrated in the top corners of the sheet, minor creasing at top right, and archival repairs to a tear in the top blank margin and to a centerfold separation that enters 2" into the image at bottom. There are tiny chips along the edges of the sheet, well away from the image.