Catalog Archive
Auction 134, Lot 83

"Atlantis Insula a Nicolao Sanson Antiquitati Restituta…", Sanson, Guillaume

Subject: Western Hemisphere

Period: 1690 (dated)

Publication:

Color: Hand Color

Size:
22.2 x 15.8 inches
56.4 x 40.1 cm
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This is Sanson's unusual composition showing ancient geography within a contemporary outline of the Americas, which is noted in the cartouche as the mythical island of Atlantis. This is a purely topographical map and the only cities shown are Mexico City and Cuzco, the capitals of the New World. The continents are divided into ten regions, named for the ten sons of Neptune. The Great Lakes are shown but still very misshapen and open-ended in the west. A large lake in the western part of North America is the source of a river that empties into the sea between the continent and the island of California. The map includes both Asian and European coastlines and bits of New Guinea, New Zealand and Australia. The large cartouche is surrounded by Neptune and his ten sons. This is the third state with the addition of Apud Autorem in Aedibus Regus 1690 in the cartouche.

References: Burden #405; McLaughlin #46; Tooley p. 124, #51.

Condition: A

Some minor creases and damp stains in blank margins, none affecting map.

Estimate: $1,200 - $1,500

Sold for: $900

Closed on 12/1/2010

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