Rare Early Dutch Sea Chart of the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean

"Pascaerte van West Indien van de Caribes tot aen de Golfo van Mexico", Jacobsz, Anthonie

This rare and elegantly engraved sea chart is one the earliest printed Dutch charts of the region. It is the third derivative of the 1631 chart by Hessel Gerritsz, a much-copied work which was in turn derived from his mentor Willem Blaeu's West Indische Paskaert (circa 1630). The most notable difference between Gerritsz's chart and this one is the addition of Delaware Bay and Cape May. Jacobsz likely died soon after it was engraved. The chart extends from Chesapeake Bay through the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central America to the northern part of South America. Place names line the coasts while the interiors are left blank. The southern part of the present-day United States is labeled Florida, and the southeast is named Virginia. Jamestown is located. The chart is crisscrossed with rhumb lines and includes a compass rose capped with a fleur-de-lis, a sailing ship, and a decorative title cartouche flanked by a Dutch pilot with a telescope, globe, and dividers.

References: Burden #299.

Condition: A

A fine impression with a small spot at bottom center and professional repairs to couple of minor splits along the centerfold and to a tear at bottom left.