Henricus Hondius (1597-1651) / Jan Jansson (1588-1664) America Septentrionalis, (Amsterdam: 1641). Latin text edition. Copperplate engraving with superb hand color. 18 3/8 x 21 5/8 in. at neatline. Overall size: 21 x 24 3/8 in. A few chips along edges; 1 spot of foxing at lower margin. A fine dark impression. Platemark is visible. Very fine condition. $8,000.
$8,000.00
The Myth of California as an Island in this Striking Map of North America
A decorative map of North America, and the first Dutch atlas map to show California as an island. “Henricus Hondius’ beautifully engraved map of North America had greater influence than any other to date in perpetuating the theory of California as an island.” (Burden).
This was the first map titled North America in a folio atlas, with earlier maps showing both North and South America. It shows from the Arctic Circle down to Raleigh’s Parime Lacus and Manoa o el Dorado in South America. Only one Great Lake is depicted, Ontario (Lac des Iroquois); California is shown with a flat northern coast and four islands in the gulf; and the unknown regions to the north are hidden under a fine title cartouche in full color. Although John Speed’s map of America showed California as an island a decade earlier, it was only published with an English text. Hondius’ map, printed in several languages, reached further across Europe. The map first appeared in volume three of the ‘Atlas Novus’ in 1636, with the same printing used for the second Latin edition in 1638. By 1641 Jan Jansson had added his signature to the blank cartouche lower right.
Other interesting aspects of this map include: The Rio del Norto flows from a large lake in the interior. In South America, another lake, Parime lacus is also shown, a reference to the El Dorado myth. On the eastern seaboard of North America, one can spot Iames Towne, the still small English settlement.
In addition to the latest depiction of geographic features, the map features many decorative elements. Animals, including a polar bear, a fox, a boar, bison, and others roam the open North American interior. Ships and sea monsters dot the waters, including north of the island of California. The northwest coast is obscured by a large title cartouche showing Indigenous Americans in full battle dress flanking an ornate frame topped with various reptiles. In the lower-left is another cartouche, this one with swimming putti using navigational equipment, pointing at a globe.
Overall, this is a very handsome example of Hondius’ important map of North America, and a superb example of Dutch Baroque cartography at the height of its influence.
Ref.: Burden, Mapping of North America, 245 (state 1). Tooley, California as an Island, 6. Koeman’s Atlantes Neerlandici, 9100:1.1., 1:401.3A, with atlas title page date of 1636 changed to 1638.
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