The map is flanked on three sides by carte-a-figure borders depicting Native Americans and their major cities. This map is easily distinguished from Hondius’s map by the fact that the figures on the sides were inverted when copied by the engraver. Unlike Blaeu’s similar map, the towns at the top include three North American towns: the Indian village of Pomeiooc in Virginia, the French fort of Carolina, and St Augustin in Florida.
Map of the Western Hemisphere, 1659
This is a very rare derivative of the important Hondius map of 1618.
The engraver is unknown, although it is a close copy of Picart’s version of 1644, which in turn was derived from Jansson’s map of 1623.
North America retains the peninsula of California, and there isn’t much detail along the east coast in the mid-Atlantic region.
In the south-west, the famous Seven Cities of Cibola appear on the shores of a large false lake.
In South America, the mythical Parime Lacus is shown south of Guyana, and there are two engraved scenes, one showing a cannibal feast and the other a mythical giant from Patagonia.
Two stylised insets of the polar regions are placed on strip maps; the North Pole shows Frobisher’s theory of the Northwest Passage, and the South Pole shows the long-held idea of the mythical southern continent.
The map is flanked on three sides by carte-a-figure borders depicting Native Americans and their major cities.
This map is easily distinguished from Hondius’s map by the fact that the figures on the sides were inverted when copied by the engraver.
Unlike Blaeu’s similar map, the towns at the top include three North American towns: the Indian village of Pomeiooc in Virginia, the French fort of Carolina, and St Augustin in Florida.
1659 Map of the Western Hemisphere – Historical Map
