"America Borealis", Scherer, Heinrich
Subject: Colonial North America
Period: 1699 (dated)
Publication: Atlas Novus
Color: Black & White
Size:
13.8 x 8.9 inches
35.1 x 22.6 cm
Henrich Scherer, a mathematics professor and Jesuit, produced this work to emphasize the extent of Catholic influence in the New World. The richly engraved map shows the island of California after the Sanson model with a large mountain range. The Great Lakes are prominently depicted and the Mississippi River originates in two large lakes in present-day Canada and empties into the Sinus Mexicanus too far to the west. The map is decorated with a title cartouche, distance scale, ships and sea monsters. The title cartouche is decorated with metal ware signifying the Spanish Empire's wealth derived from the gold and silver mines in the Americas.
References: Burden #756; Mickwitz & Miekkavaara #281-33; McLaughlin #128; Tooley (Amer) p. 131; Shirley (BL Atlases) T.SHER-1a #112.
Condition: B+
A dark impression on a mostly clean sheet with light toning along the centerfold. There is one worm track along the centerfold (Gulf of Mexico) that has been professionally infilled, along with several tiny, unrepaired worm tracks also along the centerfold.
