Catalog Archive
Auction 134, Lot 5

"[Atlas Novus Frontispiece]", Scherer, Heinrich

Subject: Title Pages

Period: 1700 (circa)

Publication:

Color: Hand Color

Size:
7.7 x 9.6 inches
19.6 x 24.4 cm
Download High Resolution Image
(or just click on image to launch the Zoom viewer)

This fascinating frontispiece was designed by Johannes Degler and engraved by Joseph à Montalegre. At center is a circular map of South Asia surrounded by the heavens and the signs of the zodiac. The land is filled with depictions of wildlife (including a unicorn) and the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve, and the sea is filled with a variety of sea monsters. A cloud background surrounds the map with putti representing the four elements in each corner, each holding a cartouche enveloping a psalm. Scherer, a devout Jesuit, produced this geographical compendium to depict the Catholic hierarchy and the spread of Jesuit missions throughout the world.

References:

Condition: A

Remargined at right to accommodate framing.

Estimate: $450 - $500

Sold for: $500

Closed on 12/1/2010

Archived