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Giclee-101 - HENRICUS HONDIUS “Nova Totius Terrarum Orbis Geographica Ac Hydrographica Tabula.” Amstd. 1629. Colored. 16X22. This great double hemisphere map is bordered on all sides with ornate mythological figures flying with birds around the universe. In the 4 corners are portraits of Julius Caesar, Claudius Ptolemy, Jodocus Hondius, the cartographers father, & his mentor Gerardus Mercator. The map shows North America’s Pacific Northwest coast with California as an island. Southeast Asia is indicated as a group of islands with Japan off the coast of China & Australia, still undiscovered is indicated at the base of the map and called Terra Australis Incognita. On the map are several informational texts surrounded by decorative cartouches, one of which is located on North America’s west coast region that reads “In 1492 America was discovered by Christofero Columbo. Henricus Hondius (1597-1651) was an engraver & draftsman, the son of Jodocus Hondius, the Elder. He republished the Mercator-Hondius Atlas between 1623-33 and worked with his brother-in-law Jan Jansonnius on further editions of the Atlas which became known as Atlas Novus. This beautiful facsimile map is a work of art on canvas. 

Giclee-102 - CLAES JANSZOON VISSCHER “Cartes a Figures.” Double Hemisphere World Map. Amstd c.1617. Colored. 20X30. This cartographic masterpiece is one of the rarest maps in existence. One known example hangs in the National Library of Vienna & it is not known if any other examples exist. It is untitled & undated & is a masterly combination of all the emblems of the age. The two hemispheres, the heavens, mythology & the classical past, & the result of recent explorations. Man’s activities during the changing seasons, & the Christian obligation of every man. The date of the map has been put at c.1617 because of the absence of Le Maire Strait which was marked on nearly all maps after this date. Each of the pictures tells it’s own story. The costumes of the figures are beautifully drawn & colorful, the sailing vessels ply their trades around the Oceans. The map depicts North & South America and the countries of Europe, Africa, India & Asia as they were known in the early 17th century. Australia is called Terra Australis Incognita. (Unknown) indicating that it was believed that a large land mass existed in the Antarctic regions at the bottom of the map. Glorious color & masterly detail make this example of Visscher’s rare map on canvas a joy to behold! (Claes Janszoon Visscher lived from 1587-1652. He was an engraver & publisher of maps in Amsterdam.) 

Giclee-103 - FATHER EUSEBIO FRANCISCO KINO “Tabula Californiae” Nurnberg 1702. B/W. 14X9¼. Father Kino who drew this map was an Italian born, Jesuit Missionary, an astronomer, mathematician & cartographer who landed in Mexico in 1681 with the intent to build missionaries, in Northern Mexico & Lower California. He brought with him the belief that the Baja California was a Peninsula, but after spending time with the Indians & settlers, he was converted to their belief that the land was actually an island. However, by 1691 after exploring the region of the Colorado River he ventured westward & was able to walk across land to the coast, proving once again that the Baja region was a Peninsula & not an island. To prove his point that a land passage existed, he sent this map to the Jesuit College in Rome. Kino drew many maps of the areas he explored putting in his own place names and notes, which can be found on other maps of the region by later cartographers. This is one of the finest early maps of California. 

Giclee-104 - COVENS & MORTIER “Connecticut & Parts Adjacent.” Amsterdam 1780. B/W. 20X24. This striking map of Connecticut & Long Island with Long Island Sound, was drawn by a Dutch surveyor named Bernard Romans (c.1720-1784) who had studied surveying in England prior to coming to America before the Revolutionary War. He took America’s side in the War & designed fortifications along the Hudson River & made maps of the region around the Hudson Highlands. He was active in surveying coastal Florida & made a famous mss map titled “The Colony of New York & its Surroundings.” This map of Connecticut which includes part of New York, New York harbor & the Hudson River, & all of Connecticut indicates that he must have walked over the terrain, surveying as he went, drawing rivers, small towns & harbors on his travels. He even included Fishers Island in Long Island Sound. The title in lower right is a landscape scene, with cattle & horses, drawn along the shore of an inlet or bay along the Connecticut coast. A compass rose is placed in the sea area at the end of Long Island. One of the attractive features about this map is that Romans drew it with a relative degree of accuracy – unusual for this early date. Published by Johannes Covens & Cornelis Mortier, brothers in law, & Johannes Covens II, (1722-1794.) 

Giclee-106 - N. DE FER “Cette Carte De Californie Et Du Mexiique Est Tiree De Cette Qui a Ete Envoyer Par Un Grande d’Espagne Pour Etre Communiquee a Mrs. de L’Academie Des Sciences. Par N. De Fer. Geographe de Monseigneur Le Dauphin Avec Privilege du Roi.” Paris 1705. B/W. 9X13. This map by Nicolas de Fer purporting to show the Baja California as an island was based on information available in the world of cartography in the 17th & early 18th century & it wasn’t until the late 1600’s when the Jesuits settled in northern Mexico & southern California that one of the Missionaries, Father Eusebio Francisco Kino , an Italian educated in Inglestadt, with degrees in astronomy, mathematics & cartography dispelled the “California as an Island” myth by walking across the Colorado River to the coast. When De Fer drew this map in Paris he used Kino’s place names and notes to cover the top and top right area of his page. It was a number of years before European cartographers ceased to display California as an Island even with Father Kino’s proof of the land passage above the Baja region. This is a famous map in California’s history. 

Giclee-107 - C. De JODE “Quivirae Regnu Cum Alijs Versus Borea.” Antwerp. 1593. Colored. 13X8½. This highly fanciful map of the California coast appeared in the 2nd edition of Cornelis de Jode’s “Speculum Orbis Terrae” in 1593, & only 2 editions of this Atlas were ever published thus accounting for the rarity of De Jode’s maps. Geographically De Jode (1568-1600) drew on the inspiration of Mercator & Ortelius but he inserted geographical & speculative elements not found in either of his fellow cartographers works. Particularly the myth of a Northwest Passage was made to look quite real on De Jode’s maps. This map depicts natives & native animals, rivers & mountains & is decorated with sailing ships, a seahorse, a sea-serpent & a title cartouche ornamented with an armorial strapwork design. A very attractive early map. 

Giclee-108 - H. HONDIUS “Nova Virginiae Tabula.” Amsterdam. 1636. 12½X16. This famous map by Hendricus Hondius (1597-1651) shows the Chesapeake River & Virginia, Maryland & the region that is now Washington, D.C. It is oriented to the west in the manner of 17th century cartography, & depicts a Shield of Great Britain with the letters “Honi Soi Qui Mal Y Pense.” In top left is a depiction of Powhatan’s Lodge, and below the shield is a drawing of an Indian with bow & cl;ub. The landscape is primarily hilly interspersed with rivers, and a decorative compass rose is drawn in the sea at the entrance to the Chesapeake River. Hondius worked for a few years with his equally famous brother-in-law Jan Jansonnius in developing the Mercator-Hondius Atlas Novus in which his “Nova Virginiae Tabula” map was featured. What this map lacked in detail was made up for in its handsome design qualities. 

Giclee-109 - Sayer-Bennett NY New Jersey 1776 16x38

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