"Novissima et Accuratissima Totius Americae Descriptio", La Feuille, Jacob de

This is an extremely scarce derivative of Nicolas Visscher's influential map of the Americas. The map was originally engraved and published by Johannes de Ram. This state was published by Jacob de La Feuille, who acquired the plate through his marriage to Maria de Ram, the widow of Johannes de Ram. La Feuille added Terra Esonis and the names of seas along the coasts to the plate and replaced De Ram's name with his own. Jacob was the son of the mapmaker and goldsmith Daniel de la Feuille. Apparently, the marriage of Maria and Jacob was short-lived, as the year following their wedding in 1696, Jacob was accused of raping their housemaid, and evidently disappeared shortly thereafter.

While the basic composition of the map follows Visscher, there are some interesting geographical differences. California is shown as a large island on the second Sanson model with a small Aqubela de Cato peninsula to the north of the island. In the Southwest, the Rio del Norto flows from a large interior lake and empties into the sea between the mainland and California. The Great Lakes region is completely blank. In South America, Parime Lacus is prominent on the equator and the Eupana Lacus spawns three huge rivers, one flowing north, one east and the other south. The cartouches are derived from De Wit with the title wrapped in sugar cane, a compass rose at top, and a bull's hide and tobacco roll among the offerings at the chief's feet. There are no examples of this edition in any price guides for the last 30 years.

References: Burden (II) #577; McLaughlin #136; cf Tooley (Amer) #47; cf Wagner (NW) #437.

Condition: C+

Original color that has oxidized with some cracking, now reinforced on the verso with tissue. There is a small area of loss in the wreath of the cartouche, and some loss on the centerfold near Honduras with a few lines of facsimile.