"America noviter delineata", Merian, Matthaus

This is the uncommon, larger, version of Merian's map of the Americas. Merian's bold engraving style copies the cartography of Jodocus Hondius' map of 1631. North America is depicted with a prominent Virginia and an odd New England coastline. The western coastline above California makes the continent too wide and there is only a hint of the Great Lakes. There is a large inland lake in equatorial South America. Insets of the Polar Regions are set in strapwork cartouches. The map is finely decorated with a title cartouche featuring human skulls and bones, representing the legendary cannibalism of the Americas, and the seas are teeming with ships, sea battles and fierce sea monsters.

References: Burden #235, Tooley (Amer) p. 299.

Condition: B

A truly beautiful impression on paper that has been professionally backed with Japanese tissue. A little soil in the blank margins and a faint damp stain, mostly visible on the verso.