Jansson's Rare Carte-a-Figures Map of the Americas in Full Original Color

"America Noviter Delineata", Hondius/Jansson

This rare, magnificent map of the Americas is derived from Jodocus Hondius' map of 1618. Joannes Jansson was married to Elisabeth Hondius, sister of Jodocus, and was a prominent publisher in Amsterdam. In 1623 he produced a set of continental maps derived from those of his brother-in-law, which in turn were largely derived from those of Blaeu. North America retains the peninsular California and there is not a lot of detail along the eastern coast in the mid-Atlantic region. In the Southwest the famous seven cities of Cibola appear on the banks of a large spurious lake. In South America, there is a large inland sea in Guiana and two engraved scenes, one detailing a cannibalistic feast and the other showing a mythical giant of Patagonia. Two stylized insets of the polar regions are enclosed in strapwork cartouches; the North Pole depicts Frobisher's theory of the Northwest Passage and the South Pole shows the long-held notion of the mythical southern continent.

The map is flanked on three sides with carte-a-figures borders describing the native Americans and the major cities. This map can easily be distinguished from Hondius' map because the figures at the sides were reversed when they were copied by the engraver, the cartouche bears two skulls, and most extant examples were printed from the plate after the top right corner was damaged. The map was first issued with a panel of cities across the bottom, but that was removed for inclusion in the slightly smaller format atlases after circa 1632. This is the third state with Dutch text on verso, published between 1645-58.

References: Burden #207; Van der Krogt (Vol. I) #9000:1C.2.

Condition: B+

Contemporary color, issued folding, with professional repairs to a few small fold separations and cracks caused by the oxidation of the green pigment. Non-archival tape on verso in the top blank margin and top border have been professionally removed. The right and left margins have been extended to accommodate framing.