Fries, Lorenz – Waldseemüller, Martin, Diefert Situs Hydrographorum ab eo quem Ptolomeus Posvit [“Tabu. Nova Orbis” in banner], Lyon [1535]. 11 x 18″ (28 x 45.5 cm). Woodcut; uncolored.  $5,400.   

This “unsophisticated but attractive” map is one of the earliest world maps available to the collector. Fries included it as the modern world map in his edition of Ptolemy which he first published in 1522 in Strasbourg. He copied it from Waldseemüller’s 1513 world map, but added the five kings who represent Russia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Taprobana (Ceylon) and the Hittite King Mursuli, who is placed far east of his home, and the mammoth near Greenland. The western hemisphere is suggested with only a squiggle in the north and a bit of Brazil in the south. A fine, dark impression; tiny bits of paper loss at the centerfold, which is slightly discolored; light scattered foxing; paper cockled radiating from the centerfold on both sides.  Shirley, 49.

California as an island
Speed, John, A New and Accurat Map of the World Drawne according to ye truest Descriptions latest Discoveries & best Observations yt have beene made by English or Strangers. 1626. …Are to be sold in popshead Allee by Georg. Humble. London, 1626 [1627]. 15.5 x 20.25″ (39 x 51.5 cm). Copperplate engraving; uncolored.  $24,000.

The first state of the first world map published in an atlas to show California as an island, contained in the first world atlas published by an Englishman.

This map has something for everyone! The double hemispheres are surrounded by a multitude of figures and spheres: in the four corners are an astronomical table, an armillary sphere, and eclipses of the sun and moon. Celestial charts for the northern and southern skies sit above and below the hemispheres; the Four Elements, Water, Earth, Fire and Air, are pictured allegorically, and there are portraits of four of the great discoverers: Drake, Candish, Magellan and Vander Noort. According to Shirley Speed’s atlas was not as widely disseminated as other contemporary atlases by Mercator-Hondius, Jansson or Blaeu, and consequently “the demand for the world map—long recognized as a very desirable collector’s item—has enhanced it rarity value.” Short split at the bottom of the centerfold; printer’s crease on the left side running from top to bottom and two additional shorter printer’s creases; chips and soiling in the margins; soft creases at both bottom corners. Shirley, 317.

Pasted down on the verso is a printed owner’s label bearing the hand-written date June 23, 1915. This collector usually recorded the date of his purchase on a label that he affixed to his maps. This map was purchased from the estate of the collector’s nephew, who received it by descent. The collector often recorded the name of the mapseller, but unfortunately did not do so on this occasion. Other than the sale to me, this is the first time this map has been offered for sale since 1915.

California depicted as an island five times
Allard, Carel, Planisphærium Terrestre, Sive Terrarum Orbis…[with title repeated in Dutch], Amsterdam [1696]. 20.5 x 23.5″ (52 x 59.5 cm). Copperplate engraving; original outline and wash color.  $8,950.

This is one of the most beautiful map I have ever had. Its composition, design, content and full original color evoke a deep appreciation for the artistic elements of fine mapmaking.
Allard (1646-ca. 1706) surrounded the double hemispheres with eight smaller projections showing the earth from different angles along with four other smaller circular diagrams. California appears as an island in five of the ten projections. This map is the first in which the engraver filled the empty space surrounding the hemispheres with cross-hatching, which printed very dark, and produced a strikingly dramatic contrast to the rest of the map, a technique later adopted by several other great mapmakers. Restoration at centerfold; the top right and the two lower circular diagrams have restored cracks and/or holes with some paper loss; rebacked.  Shirley 578.

[World]  Doppelmayr, Johann Gabriel, Basis Geographiæ Recentioris Astronomica, Nuremberg [1716-1724, 1742]. 19 x 22.75″ (48 x 58 cm). Copperplate engraving; original outline color.  $1,600.

Johann Doppelmayr was an accomplished astronomer who had a life long collaboration with Johann Baptist Homann and his heirs. This plate by Doppelmayr was first published by Homann between 1716 and 1724 and was used again by Doppelmayr when he published his Atlas Coelestis in 1742, in which this map appeared as Plate 15 (see top right corner of the map for the number). This simple double hemisphere plate shows the track of an eclipse crossing the equator. The hemispheres are surrounded by engravings of a comet and solar and lunar eclipses. Below the hemispheres winged figures (a little too old to be putti) are shown making astronomical observations with various instruments. The tables above and below the map give the eclipse observations made by astronomers across the world, including Flamsteed and Halley in England and Tycho Brahe in Prague (Germania here). The astronomers could calculate the trajectory of the shadow across the earth during an eclipse with some precision, even at that time: the position of the sun was known; the tilt of the earth with respect to the sun was knowable as was the orbit of the moon, and from these things the location of the shadow spills out. A thin spot in the lower margin.
For a good discussion of Doppelmayr’s life and accomplishments and to see all the plates of the Atlas Coelestis go to http://www.phys.uu.nl/~vgent/doppelmayr/doppelmayr.htm

Brué, Adrien Hubert, Carte Générale du Globe Terrestre par A. H. Brué Géographe de S. A. Royale Monsieur à Paris chez J. Goujon, Paris, 1821. 22 x 33.75″ (56 x 85.5 cm). Copperplate engraving; original outline color.  $625.

An attractive, large double hemisphere map with the prime meridian at Paris. With the publisher’s blind stamp. One small hole and several thin spots on the right side in blank areas; light foxing at the bottom; repaired centerfold.

Lapie, Pierre & Lapie, Alexandre Émile, Mappe-Monde sur la Projection de Mercator Dressée par Mr. Lapie, Colonel d état Maj’r et Mr. Lapie fils Capitaine d’État Major, Paris, 1838.  15.75 x 21.5″ (39.5 x 54.5 cm). Copperplate engraving; original outline color.   $295.

An attractive map centered on the Pacific, it is from a later edition of the Atlas Universel than the double hemisphere map above. A soft crease from top to bottom on the right side.

Migeon, J., Planisphère, Paris [1884]. 10.5 x 14.75″ (27 x 37.5 cm). Steel engraving; original wash color.  $95.

This nicely engraved map contains a wealth of information that one does not need to read French to understand, although you will need a magnifying glass. Alongside countless place names are listed their dates of discovery, the names of the discoverer and his country. Land and sea routes are marked as are the overland and trans-ocean routes of telegraph lines. Across the bottom of the map is a comparison table of mountain heights. A useful map.