Planiglobii Terrestris cum Utroq Hemisphaerio Caelesti Generalis Repraesentatio

A stunning double hemisphere map, richly embellished with celestial charts and images of other natural phenomena.

Homann’s map reflects the transitional nature of geographic knowledge in the early 18th century, particularly around the Pacific Rim. The coastlines of Australia, New Guinea and New Zealand are all incomplete, although place names, notes of the early discoverers and tracks of the voyages of Magellan (1522) and Tasman (1642) are shown. The map also depicts a number of well-known cartographic inaccuracies and lacunae, including the east-west trend of the northwest coast of North America, the distorted treatment of Japan, and the absence of an Antarctic continent.

The decorative vignettes surrounding the map are a rich combination of science, fantasy and artwork, including two celestial hemispheres, an eruption of Mt. Etna, an earthquake, the tides, a whirlpool off the Norwegian coast, and diagrams explaining the seasons. Numerous cherubs and windheads, representations of the stars, sun and moon and other decorative features give the map added visual appeal.

Planiglobii Terrestris was produced by Johann Homann (1663-1724) and first appeared in his Neuer Atlas (1707).

Johann Baptist Homann was a German geographer and cartographer; in 1702 he founded his own publishing house. Homann acquired renown as a leading German cartographer, and in 1715 was appointed Imperial Geographer by Emperor Charles VI. In the same year he was also named a member of the Prussian Academy of Sciences in Berlin. In 1716 Homann published his masterpiece Grosser Atlas ueber die ganze Welt; numerous maps were drawn up in cooperation with the engraver Christoph Weigel the Elder. Homann died in Nuremberg in 1724 and was succeeded by his son Johann Christoph (1703-1730). The company carried on upon his death as Homann heirs company, managed by Johann Michael Franz and Johann Georg Ebersberger. After subsequent changes in management the company folded in 1852. 

Copperplate with fine original colour with retouches, a light waterstain in the upper right, otherwise good condition.