''WERELT CAERT'' Rotterdam: Daniel Stoopendaal, c. 1680. Original engraved map with later hand-coloring. Verso: Dutch. (Ref: Shirley #498-variant). (Image: 11 5/8 x 16 1/4’’)
This double hemispheric map, based on the 1663 Visscher world map, was engraved for a Bible by Daniel Stoopendaal of Rotterdam. It is certainly one of the most beautiful map published during the golden age of Dutch cartography!
The two small hemispheres (top & bottom) show the Ptolemaic and Copernican systems of the Universe. California is depicted as an island & the upper Northwest coast has a very strange shape. A small piece of land or an island named Anian appears adjacent to a strait leading to the west shores of Hudson’s Bay. Also of note: there are no Great Lakes!
Surrounding the map are personifications of the four continents: Europe is shown with musical & scientific instruments, & domestic animals; Africa with a lion & an alligator; Asia wears silks & jewels, & in the background are animals such as an elephant & camel; America wears a feather headdress, has a bow & quiver of arrows for hunting, while in the background are other native Americans & a very large dragon.
Shipped unmatted
