Catalog Archive
Auction 114, Lot 23

"Orbis Terrarum Tabula Recens Emendata et In Lucem Edita Per N. Visscher", Visscher, Nicolas

Subject: World

Period: 1663 (circa)

Publication:

Color: Hand Color

Size:
18.7 x 12 inches
47.5 x 30.5 cm
Download High Resolution Image
(or just click on image to launch the Zoom viewer)

First state of this map from a Dutch Bible published by the renowned house of Elzevier. Superb double hemisphere world map surrounded by engravings including allegorical representations of the continents as well as native inhabitants and wildlife. Visscher's decorations were so popular several other cartographers copied them. Two diagrams depicting the Ptolemaic and Copernican theories of the solar system appear within the cusps of the hemispheres. The northwest coast of North America is greatly exaggerated and shows California as a peninsula. Western Australia, Van Diemen's Land and a bit of New Zealand are marked.

References: Shirley #431; Poortman & Augusteijn #118.

Condition: B

Crisp impression and later color. Wide original margins, which is unusual for bible maps. Professional repair of a minor tear along centerfold entering map at bottom.

Estimate: $2,000 - $2,300

Sold for: $2,100

Closed on 3/1/2006

Archived