Nova Totius Terrarum Orbis Geographica Ac Hydrographica Tabula

A good example of the Henricus Hondius’ world map, a third state with the date 1663 that can be found in the Atlas Contractus of Jan Jansson and in sea atlases of Van Loon.

The embellished cartouches and whimsical illustrations make this map an excellent example of baroque-style Dutch cartography. Bordered by mythical scenes and fantastic beasts, the world map itself includes charming illustrations of sailing vessels and fish, adding further visual interest to an already engaging tableau.

The mapmaker Henricus Hondius was the son of famed cartographer Joducus Hondius, whose portrait appears at bottom left. The map also includes portraits of Gerardus Mercator, Claudius Ptolemy, and Julius Caesar. These portraits are not only eye-catching and historically relevant, but also serve to establish Dutch cartography (exemplified by Hondius and Mercator) alongside the Roman cartographic tradition.

The Mercator-Hondius atlas was first published by the mapmaker’s father, Joducus Hondius. Joducus Hondius secured Mercator’s map engravings from Mercator’s relatives and republished them, along with his own work. The atlas was incredibly commercially successful, and its world map remained unchanged from Mercator’s depiction until the creation of this map by Henricus Hondius and partner Jan Jansson. This Hondius-Jansson version of the Mercator world map was included in all issues of the Mercator-Hondius atlases from 1633 until at least 1658.

In addition to the numerous beautiful illustrations and map details, several geographic features included on this map are notable, including California as an island, the riverine networks and lakes of North America, and the coastline of Australia. California is shown here as an island, reflecting a widespread belief among Europeans from the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries. In South America, the Le Maire Strait now appears east of the Strait of Magellan. The Le Maire Strait had been discovered only fifteen years before the first state of this map was published, when Jacob Le Maire and Willem Schouten led a circumnavigation to undermine the trade monopoly of the Dutch East India Company (VOC).

Setting this map apart from its contemporaries, it also includes an early appearance of Australia's northern coastline. The inclusion of the Australian coast on this map traces the beginning of Dutch knowledge of the Australian continent, preserving a moment in time when “The Unknown Southern Land” was quickly becoming known.

Copperplate with fine hand colouring, in good condition.