Cabinet of Discoveries

ZI001
[No title]

Antique print of butterflies, caterpillars and pupa on pomegranates by Maria Sibylla Merian (1647–1717.

I Mutoer was the engraver. from her Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium [Metamorphoses of the Insects of Surinam], first published in 1705.

Maria was the daughter of the engraver Matthäus Merian the Elder, who specialized in city views and landscapes.

She is most famous for her books illustrating the way caterpillars change into butterflies.

However, she also depicted the plants on which the caterpillars feed, making her plates equally interesting as botanical illustrations.

This plate and the book it comes from are the result of her two years’ field work in Surinam. Maria personally hand coloured some copies of her book. Unfortunately, we are not able to say whether or not this is one such example.

Platemark measures 359x262mm (14 1/8 x 10 1/4 in) Excellent condition. Fine hand colour. $1500

MAE001
India quae Orientalis dicitur et Insulae adjacentes

Highly decorative antique map of the East Indies (from the Western border of Pakistan to Japan).

It includes ‘t land von Endracht, G de Wit’s Land and the East coast of Cape York, the first parts of the Australian coast to be seen and mapped by the Dutch.

Inbetween is a vast gap: the mapmaker did not attempt to draw the unknown coast line. There are also 3 decorative cartouches and rhumb lines, compass roses and ships in the sea.

This map is widely rated as a cornerstone of a collection of early maps of Australia. It is also prized by collectors of maps of the Philippines and of Asia.

By Willem Janszoon Blaeu (1571-1638), [or his son Joan]. 1642 William Blaeu is the most famous map publisher of the 17th century. Together with his sons, Joan and Cornelis, he was the most prolific exponent of the distinctive Dutch style of map engraving, calligraphy, decoration and colouring.

The geography of many of his maps was taken from other mapmakers and some were out of date by the time they were published, but atlases and sheet maps by the Blaeus flooded Europe and set the benchmark for their many competitors and imitators.

414 x 550 mm. Original colouring. Very good condition; some marginal browning, minor offsetting and a small (easily reversible) adhesion at fold. Tooley 223. $2800

MAM001
Partie Orientale de la Nouvelle France ou du Canada avec l’Ile de Terre Neuve et la Nouvelle Ecosse, Acadie et Nouv. Angleterre avec Fleuve de St Laurence …

Spectacular antique map depicting eastern Canada from Lake Ontario to Newfoundland and including Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and part of Quebec. By Albrecht Karl Seutter (active c1741), published in Augsburg by his bother in law Tobias Conrad Lotter (1717-1777) 1762

This is an outstanding example of German 18th century map decoration, with a very elaborate cartouche and equally elaborate vignette with sailing ships.

“It is difficult to find another map on this scale with so many small, well-drawn scenes” Armstrong.

The unique projection, which elongates the map vertically, is also interesting and combines with the strong colours over the land mass and uncoloured cartouche and vignette (again, both typical German 18th century style) to make a strikingly decorative map.

568 x 492 mm (22 ½ x 19 ¼ in). Bright original hand colour, excellent condition. $3000.00

MEU015
Polonia et Silesia

Attractive antique map depicting what is today Central and Southern Poland and part of Germany, as it was in the late 1500s.

Many place names and other details. Strap work cartouche. French text on verso.

By Gerard Mercator c1585; and based on earlier maps by the Polish cartographers Bernard Wapowski (1450-1535) and Waclaw Grodecki (1535-1591). (For further details, see the rappersvil collection at http://www.muzeum-polskie.org)

From Atlas Major, an edition c1600 (key letters Qqqqqq)

Gerard Kremer, known as Mercator (1512-94), is a towering figure in cartography.

“For nearly 60 years, during the most important and exciting period in the story of modern map making, Gerard Mercator was the supreme cartographer, his name synonymous with the form of map projection still in use today … his influence transformed land surveying … ” (Moreland and Bannister.).

He also revolutionized generally accepted ideas of the shape and size of the continents.

He was the first person to produce an atlas in the modern sense of a bound comprehensive collection of maps.

Following his death, his business and publication of his Atlas was continued by his sons and grandsons and ultimately taken over in 1604 by Jodocus Hondius.

Very attractive all over original hand colour, Overall condition good, there is some offsetting of colour from one page to the next and the paper has browned with age (which is largely hidden by the bright hand colour). $700.00

MAS024
Sumatrae et Insularum Locurumque Nonnulliorum Circumiacentium Tabula Nova.

Antique map of Sumatra and the Malacca straits including “Senasur” (Singapore) and “Ihor”.

By Joan Blaeu. 1655.  (Possibly issued later in the 1600s.) William Blaeu is the most famous map publisher of the 17th century.

Together with his sons, Joan and Cornelis, he was the most prolific exponent of the distinctive Dutch style of map engraving, calligraphy, decoration and colouring.

The geography of many of his maps was taken from other mapmakers and some were out of date by the time they were published, but atlases and sheet maps by the Blaeus flooded Europe and set the benchmark for their many competitors and imitators.

416 x 520 mm (16 1/2 x 20 1/2 in) Original hand colour, including an unusual all-over turquoise blue for the sea area. Good condition; outer edges of margins slightly soiled and worn, centrefold repaired. No text on verso. $900.00

MEU013
Pascaart van Europa Als mede een gedeelt vande cust van Africa
SOLD

Antique chart of the coasts of Europe and part of those of Africa, from Nova Zemblya all the way down to Cape Verde in west Africa.

Also are included the Azores, the Cape Verde islands and Greenland.

The map is decorated with ships, compass roses and rhumb lines in the sea, the coats of arms of the leading powers of the day, including Russia and Morocco, as well as two decorative cartouches, one with several scales, the other with title, surmounted by a Navigation light and flanked by a Dutch cartographer and a Russian(?).

By Pieter Goos (c1613-75) from one of his Atlases c1660, Amsterdam.

Pieter pursued and developed the business of his father, Abraham Goos (c1590-1643).

Both were engravers, cartographers and publishers of sea atlases (ie, atlases composed of sea charts). In the latter role (which was continued until the end of the century by his widow — whose first name is not recorded — relayed by his son Hendrik), the Goos family were extremely influential and widely imitated.

430x529mm (17 x 20¾in) Original hand colour. We rate the overall condition as only ‘good’, because of a brown spot (about 1 cm — less than ½ an inch — in diameter) on the centerfold; but this is the only blemish. $1350.00

MEU014
Carte de Pologne et les Etasts qui en dependent Antiqur

Map depicting Poland and its dependencies as they were in the mid-1600s. The area covered streches from the Baltic to the Black Sea.

A large number of place names. Many of which have since changed, and other geographical features.

There is a decorative title cartouche. By Pierre du Val(active 1650-c1675) from an atlas by Pierre Mariette c1655

Pierre du Val was the son-in-law of Nicolas Sanson d’Abbeville, the leading French cartographer and map publisher of the 17th century. His work is relatively uncommon.

Pierre Mariette the elder (1603-1657) was a book and print seller and publisher in Paris.

His son of the same name (1634-1716) continued the business and also became well known as an engraver.

Uncoloured. Creamy coloured paper. Very good condition. $400.00

MAE006
Nova Tabula India Orientalis

Spectacular antique map of the Indian Ocean from East Africa to Western Australia, with a large cartouche with figures and animals.

By Huych Allardt (active 1645-91), from his Atlas Major published by his son Carel 1705.

Allardt maps are much scarcer than those of Blaeu and Jansson. “(They) have considerable merit and are prized by collectors” (Tooley, Mapping of Australia).

446 x 562 mm. Contemporary colouring including cartouche. Very good condition: corner fold, pronounced centre fold. Tooley 40. $4800

Nieuwe Wassende Grade Passkaart vertoonde t Westlyhste deel der Zee Kusten van Europa
SOLD

By Johannes van Keulen, Amsterdam c1750?

Large chart of the whole West Atlantic coast of Europe including the British isles, the French coast, Spain and Portugal. Westwards it extends to the Canary Islands, the Azores (Vlammische Eylanden) and Southern Iceland. Rhumb lines, ships and compass roses. A cartouche of Tritons and sea horses.

590 x 1010mm (23 x 39in) Uncoloured. Generally clean and in very good condition. There are however some signs of plate wear at the cartouche. $375.00

MEU008
Lithvania

Gerard Mercator c 1570, an edition of 1612

The vast (as it then was) Kingdom of Lithuania, incorporating most of modern Poland and adjacent territories. Many towns, rivers and mountain ranges, the extensive forests represented by trees.

A good impression but the paper has turned grey and there is discoloration along the centre fold (this is exaggerated in our picture). The paper also does not lie quite flat. It would seem that the atlas from which this map comes may have been exposed to damp for a long period.

Despite this, the map remains an interesting and engaging historical document. $300.00

MEU004
Paskaart van de Zee-kusten van Valence, Catalonjen, Languedocq en Provence …

Johannes Van Keulen, Amsterdam c1570.

Marine chart of the Balearic Islands — Majorca, Minorca and Yvica (Ibissa). With rhumb lines and compass roses. Inserts of bay of Marseille, Majorca and Port Mahon (Maon) Large decorative cartouche. 510 x 587 mm (20 x 23 in).

Bright period body and outline hand colour. Good impression in good condition with a few areas of light browning and a drop of wax near Narbonne. Folding either side of centrefold. $1300.00

Westlicher/Oestlicher Theil von Dalmatian

J W Engleman, after P Santini.

Two extra large sheets from F A Schræmbl’s Allgemeiner Deutscher Atlas aller Länder Vienna 1789. Together they cover the whole of Dalmatia and its islands.

Dubrovnik (shown as Ragusa), Zadar (Zara) Split (Spalatro) Šibenik (Serenico). Inset map of the ‘Bay of Cattaro’ (Cavtat). 

463 x 612 mm and 461x 612mm (each sheet 18 x 24 in). Fine impression in very good condition.

There is a difference in the colour of the paper of the two sheets and whereas the Western half is uncoloured, land borders in the Eastern half are outlined in yellow. $1200.00

[SOLD]