"Les Isles Molucques; Celebes, Gilolo, &c. ", Sanson, Nicolas

This lovely map of the East Indies is from a French edition of Sanson's popular pocket atlas that was engraved by A. Peyrounin. The map covers the famous Spice Islands and includes insets of Banda, Bachian and the Moluccas. Terre des Papous is rendered as an island separate from New Guinea, following an error that began in the 1590s. The map is beautifully engraved and decorated with a strapwork title cartouche and a compass rose. This is the first state.

References: Pastoureau, SANSON III A [15].

Condition: A

Original outline color with later color in the cartouche on paper with a bunch of grapes watermark and wide margins. There is a hint of offsetting along the centerfold. There are library stamps in the top corners of the sheet on verso, which show through on recto and are confined to the blank margins. This map was deaccessioned from the Universitat und Landesbibliothek Sachsen-Anhalt in 2010. Documentation is available upon request.