Title of the map:

"VIRGINIAE Item et FLORIDAE Americae Provinciarum, nova DESCRIPTIO"

Nice and unusual large antique copper engraved map of Southeastern United States, by Jodocus Hondius (1563-1612).

The map covers the coast from Chesapeake to St. Augustine. It shows Native American settlements throughout North Carolina (named Virginia on the map). The map also includes many drawings of ships, animals, sea monsters, and Native Americans. 

The cartouche includes a view of a Florida Indian village on the left, and a Virginia Indian village on the right.

This map was compiled from two of the most important source maps of the early colonial period: John White's Virginia and Jacques le Moyne's Florida. Hondius' map became the prototype map of the region for the first half of the 17th century and continued to influence the cartography of the region until the middle of the 18th century. Largely due to the enormous success of Hondius' Atlas, Le Moyne's erroneous depiction of a large inland lake (Lacus aquae dulcis) from which the R. de May (St. John's River) flows in a southeasterly direction was popularized. Chesapeake Bay, here called Chesepioock Sinus, and the area south towards C.S. Romano Hispanis are shown in their White delineations. The Indian villages of Paquiwok, Croatoan, and Wococon are named in the Outer Banks and several others along the Albemarle and Pamlico Sounds. The map is extensively decorated with depictions of Indian villages incorporated in the title cartouche, a Floridian king and queen and Virginian natives in a canoe taken from De Bry, wildlife including a wild turkey, ships, sea monsters and a superb compass rose. 

Latin text on verso.

Edited by Jodocus Hondius, in "Gerardi Mercatoris - Atlas sive Cosmographicae de Fabrica Mundi et Fabricati Figura".

This atlas is the most important of Mercator’s atlases, whose maps were published in separate works from 1585. In 1604, ten years after the death of Mercator, Hondius bought the brass, and completed the atlas over the editions.

The first edition of the Mercator-Hondius atlas was published with a Latin text in 1606. 

Gerard Mercator (1512-1594) was a Flemish mathematician and geographer. He gave its name to a system of statistical projection in which meridians are represented by parallel lines, equidistant, and parallels, by lines perpendicular to meridians. His master, in 1530 at the University of Leuven, was the astronomer and cartographer Frisius, who introduced him to the construction of globes. In 1537, Mercator drew up a map of the Holy Land and, the following year, published his first map of the world. In 1541, on behalf of Charles V, he built two globes, terrestrial and celestial. He then settled in Duisburg in 1552. There, he drew a great map of Europe and worked to build the projection to which his name remained attached. He published in 1569, in the projection of Mercator, the first major map of the world for the use of navigators. In 1578 he published Tabulae Geographicae ad mentem Cl. Ptolemaei, and worked on the composition of a great geographical work, which appeared in 1585 under the title of: Atlas, sive cosmographicae meditationes de fabrica mundi et fabricati figura, 1585, and which, completed, was reissued in 1595, after his death, by the care of his sons, Rumold and Arnold. The brass of his Atlas was then used by Judocus Hondius. Gerard Mercator is one of the most famous geographers of his time. He is responsible for the projection used in nautical charts. He was also the first to use the word 'atlas', referring to a mythical astronomer king of Libya who built the first celestial globe. 

Jodocus Hondius (1563-1612), also called Josse de Hond or sometimes Jodocus Hondius the Elder to distinguish him from his son, is a Flemish artist, engraver and cartographer. He is known for his maps of the New World and Europe, for restoring the interest of the works of Gerardus Mercator, as well as for his portraits of Francis Drake (1540-1596). He contributed to the establishment of Amsterdam as a centre of cartography in Europe in the 17th century.

Size with margins : 53,2 x 43 cm / 20,8 x 16,9 inches

Edition : Amsterdam, 1623, 17th Century, Latin edition.

Condition : good condition, very small abrasion in center fold, strong paper, handed colored.

If you buy more than one item, you have to pay only one shipping cost.

WE DON'T SELL LASER AND COPIES MAPS, ALL WE SELL IS ORIGINAL AND ANTIQUE.

Due to the age an type of paper, some imperfections are to be expected. Please examine the images provided carefully, and if you have any questions please ask and we will be happy to help you.