Details
MERCATOR, Gerard (1512-1594) & Jodocus HONDIUS (1563-1611). Atlas sive Cosmographicae. Amsterdam: Jodocus Hondius, 1619.
2° (467 x 315mm). Mounted on guards throughout, French text. Hand-coloured engraved allegorical title, double-page portrait of Mercator and Hondius, 4 section titles and 158 maps on 156 sheets (i.e 153 double-page maps, 1 single page map, 4 maps on 2 double-page sheets). TWO LARGE ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT AND WATERCOLOUR MAPS ON VELLUM OF THE WORLD AND NORTHERN EUROPE BY SALOMON DE CAUS "INGENIEUR ET ARCHITECTE DU ROY" THE MAPS DATED 1624 bound in, each mounted on later guards. (Margins of title and a few other leaves, particularly the preliminaries, repaired and strengthened, occasional light browning and spotting, occasionally heavy.) Contemporary vellum, covers panelled in gilt, the flat-backed spine in eight compartments, g.e. (ties lacking, small tears to head and foot of spine). Provenance: Philip Stanhope, 2nd Earl Stanhope (1714-1786, a.l.s. from Chonelieu?, dated Delices (Switzerland) 9 fevr. 1771, presenting the copy to Lord Stanhope, mounted on front endpaper). Koeman II Me 26a.
A fine copy of the Mercator-Hondius atlas with the addition of TWO IMPORTANT ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT MAPS BY SALOMON DE CAUS, comprising:
Carte Universelle, signed 'par S.de Caus Ingenieur et Architecte du Roy 1624', an oval world map on a single vellum sheet, ink and wash, 490 x 790mm, coastlines coloured in outline, 17 settlements denoted by small settlement symbols [Rome, Mecha (Mecca), Mosco(w), Constantinople, Quebec, Quinsay (Beijing), Jerusalem, La Babylone, Mexique (Mexico City), Leon, Lima, Cusco, Arica, Potosi, ville de la plate, Fernanborg (in Brasil), Cambalu (in Cathay)], regional names and tribal names in red and gold, rivers and lake in blue, mountains in brown, forests in green, the Great Wall marked by crenillations, the Equator in gold stipple, tropics in blue, arctic and antarctic circles in red. The seas are decorated with wavy blue lines, both seas and oceans lettered in gold, graticule construction of the map just visible in faint sepia lines. The oval world map is surrounded by thick black wash and set within a sepia and crimson ruled border, the extremities decorated by 8 oval or circular vignettes of French possesions or areas of interest, comprising small maps of Havana, Rhodes, Isle St. Thomas, Tunis, and views of Quebec, Cusco, a native encampment in Virginia and Penon de Velez. (One small cut into lower margin just affecting border, slight staining to inner edge.)
Les Paiis Bas ou la Basse Alemaigne...memoire des villes principalles que le Roy Despagne tient au pays bas en ceste annee 1624 15eme mars..memoire des villes que Messrs Les Estats tiennent signed 'par S.de Caus Ingenieur et architecte du Roy. Illumunated manuscript map on a single vellum sheet, ink and wash, 640 x 810mm., the map depicting the states of Germany and the Low Countries, as well as the Eastern portion of England. Numerous towns indicated by settlement symbols, regions delineated by wash outlines, rivers in blue, place-names in sepia, regional names in red, countries and seas in gold. The seas decorated with wavy blue lines, three ships (flying the French flag) and a sea monster, the title set in the North Sea as a tableau cartouche with scale bars below, ruled sepia borders with multi-coloured infills, inset tables of the principal towns at lower right corner. (Very light soiling to lower margins, old glue stains to inner margin, small flaw in the vellum neatly stitched.)
Salomon de Caus (1576-1626), was a celebrated French Architect and Engineer, particularly recognised for his work Les Raisons des Forces mouvantes, avec diverses machine published first in Frankfurt in 1615, and later a second edition in Paris, 1624, this edition dedicated to Louis XIII. He was probably born in Dieppe, studied mathematics and the sciences. In 1612 he was in London working for the Prince of Wales (later Charles I), and from 1614-1620 was in the court of Frederic V of Bohemia, living in Heidelberg (where he completed plans of the Palace in 1620) as well as in Prague. With the fall of Frederic, Salomon came to Paris, and had established himself there in 1621. By 1624 he had been accepted into the court life of Louis XIII, and called himself 'ingenieur et architecte du Roy'. He is not known to have been an established cartographer, although C.S. Maks work on de Caus records a world map that he drew. These two maps are one of the few cartographical projects that he carried out and were probably commissioned for presenation to a member of the Court, possibly for the King himself. Both maps are political in their aim; the world map indicating the spheres of French interest, Canada, North Africa, West Indies and South America. The fairly simple outline is modelled on Jean le Clerc's separately issued map, engraved by Hondius, published in Paris in 1602 (Shirley 234), but Caus has an updated depiction of Le Maire's strait, and a redrawing of Northern Canada from Champlain's work, first published in 1613. Caus also uses the Champlain's engraving of Quebec as his model for the vignette (cf. p.187 in the first edition), and curiously includes several of the wonders of the world, namely the Great Wall of China and Babylon, images not normally associated with maps, and in reflection of his previous employment he includes Bohemia. For the map of northern Europe the source would have been from Dutch cartography, the use of the ship and monster representation very much in this style. This map sets out the present political situation, which would relate closely to France's own territorial ambitions in Europe. The two maps appear to have been bound previously in a larger format volume, but were later inserted into this Mercator atlas on blank guards; these guards have been renewed recently.
A MAGNIFICENT COMBINATION OF ONE OF THE GREAT ATLASES OF THE EARLY 17TH CENTURY WITH TWO RARE ILLUMINATED MAPS.
2° (467 x 315mm). Mounted on guards throughout, French text. Hand-coloured engraved allegorical title, double-page portrait of Mercator and Hondius, 4 section titles and 158 maps on 156 sheets (i.e 153 double-page maps, 1 single page map, 4 maps on 2 double-page sheets). TWO LARGE ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT AND WATERCOLOUR MAPS ON VELLUM OF THE WORLD AND NORTHERN EUROPE BY SALOMON DE CAUS "INGENIEUR ET ARCHITECTE DU ROY" THE MAPS DATED 1624 bound in, each mounted on later guards. (Margins of title and a few other leaves, particularly the preliminaries, repaired and strengthened, occasional light browning and spotting, occasionally heavy.) Contemporary vellum, covers panelled in gilt, the flat-backed spine in eight compartments, g.e. (ties lacking, small tears to head and foot of spine). Provenance: Philip Stanhope, 2nd Earl Stanhope (1714-1786, a.l.s. from Chonelieu?, dated Delices (Switzerland) 9 fevr. 1771, presenting the copy to Lord Stanhope, mounted on front endpaper). Koeman II Me 26a.
A fine copy of the Mercator-Hondius atlas with the addition of TWO IMPORTANT ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT MAPS BY SALOMON DE CAUS, comprising:
Carte Universelle, signed 'par S.de Caus Ingenieur et Architecte du Roy 1624', an oval world map on a single vellum sheet, ink and wash, 490 x 790mm, coastlines coloured in outline, 17 settlements denoted by small settlement symbols [Rome, Mecha (Mecca), Mosco(w), Constantinople, Quebec, Quinsay (Beijing), Jerusalem, La Babylone, Mexique (Mexico City), Leon, Lima, Cusco, Arica, Potosi, ville de la plate, Fernanborg (in Brasil), Cambalu (in Cathay)], regional names and tribal names in red and gold, rivers and lake in blue, mountains in brown, forests in green, the Great Wall marked by crenillations, the Equator in gold stipple, tropics in blue, arctic and antarctic circles in red. The seas are decorated with wavy blue lines, both seas and oceans lettered in gold, graticule construction of the map just visible in faint sepia lines. The oval world map is surrounded by thick black wash and set within a sepia and crimson ruled border, the extremities decorated by 8 oval or circular vignettes of French possesions or areas of interest, comprising small maps of Havana, Rhodes, Isle St. Thomas, Tunis, and views of Quebec, Cusco, a native encampment in Virginia and Penon de Velez. (One small cut into lower margin just affecting border, slight staining to inner edge.)
Les Paiis Bas ou la Basse Alemaigne...memoire des villes principalles que le Roy Despagne tient au pays bas en ceste annee 1624 15eme mars..memoire des villes que Messrs Les Estats tiennent signed 'par S.de Caus Ingenieur et architecte du Roy. Illumunated manuscript map on a single vellum sheet, ink and wash, 640 x 810mm., the map depicting the states of Germany and the Low Countries, as well as the Eastern portion of England. Numerous towns indicated by settlement symbols, regions delineated by wash outlines, rivers in blue, place-names in sepia, regional names in red, countries and seas in gold. The seas decorated with wavy blue lines, three ships (flying the French flag) and a sea monster, the title set in the North Sea as a tableau cartouche with scale bars below, ruled sepia borders with multi-coloured infills, inset tables of the principal towns at lower right corner. (Very light soiling to lower margins, old glue stains to inner margin, small flaw in the vellum neatly stitched.)
Salomon de Caus (1576-1626), was a celebrated French Architect and Engineer, particularly recognised for his work Les Raisons des Forces mouvantes, avec diverses machine published first in Frankfurt in 1615, and later a second edition in Paris, 1624, this edition dedicated to Louis XIII. He was probably born in Dieppe, studied mathematics and the sciences. In 1612 he was in London working for the Prince of Wales (later Charles I), and from 1614-1620 was in the court of Frederic V of Bohemia, living in Heidelberg (where he completed plans of the Palace in 1620) as well as in Prague. With the fall of Frederic, Salomon came to Paris, and had established himself there in 1621. By 1624 he had been accepted into the court life of Louis XIII, and called himself 'ingenieur et architecte du Roy'. He is not known to have been an established cartographer, although C.S. Maks work on de Caus records a world map that he drew. These two maps are one of the few cartographical projects that he carried out and were probably commissioned for presenation to a member of the Court, possibly for the King himself. Both maps are political in their aim; the world map indicating the spheres of French interest, Canada, North Africa, West Indies and South America. The fairly simple outline is modelled on Jean le Clerc's separately issued map, engraved by Hondius, published in Paris in 1602 (Shirley 234), but Caus has an updated depiction of Le Maire's strait, and a redrawing of Northern Canada from Champlain's work, first published in 1613. Caus also uses the Champlain's engraving of Quebec as his model for the vignette (cf. p.187 in the first edition), and curiously includes several of the wonders of the world, namely the Great Wall of China and Babylon, images not normally associated with maps, and in reflection of his previous employment he includes Bohemia. For the map of northern Europe the source would have been from Dutch cartography, the use of the ship and monster representation very much in this style. This map sets out the present political situation, which would relate closely to France's own territorial ambitions in Europe. The two maps appear to have been bound previously in a larger format volume, but were later inserted into this Mercator atlas on blank guards; these guards have been renewed recently.
A MAGNIFICENT COMBINATION OF ONE OF THE GREAT ATLASES OF THE EARLY 17TH CENTURY WITH TWO RARE ILLUMINATED MAPS.