L'AMERIQUE SEPTENTRIONALE SUIVANT LES NOUVELLES OBSERVATIONS

£380

Attractive and finely engraved map of North America and the West Indies, based on Delisle's important map of 1700.

This map depicts an interesting version of California that is ambiguous about whether it is an island or not, as the Gulf of California is left open ended, and the Northwest coast is left blank. Neptune and two Native Americans flank the large title cartouche. The routes of the explorers Cortez, Drake and Olivier are shown in the Pacific.

Decirative Cartouche ..Indians etc

Excellent hand colour

Very good condition

code : M4007

Cartographer : Pieter Van Der AA

Date : 1705 Leiden

Size : 22.5*30.5 cms

availability : Available

Price : £380

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Pieter Van Der Aa (1659-1733)

Van Der Aa was a prolific publisher, working in Leiden during the first three decades of the eighteenth century. Much of his output consisted of re-issues and re-engravings of map and view plates that he had acquired from earlier mapmakers. Little of his output was original, though that which is has a very distinct style, precisely and elegantly engraved, and is much sought-after today.

Perhaps his most remarkable publication was the elaborate Galerie Agreable Du Monde, issued in 1729, in 66 parts, bound into 27 volumes, which contained about 3,000 plates, apparently limited to 100 sets. Another of his extensive publications was the Cartes Des Itineraires Et Voyages Modernes, a collection of 28 volumes of travel accounts, illustrated with a series of small, but finely engraved maps, often with decorative pictorial title-pieces.

An interesting feature of Van Der Aa's method is that several of his atlases include maps printed within large, separately engraved, elaborately designed mock-frame borders, which were prepared with a blank centre so that individual maps could be over-printed on that area.

Despite the quantity and variety of Van Der Aa's publications they seem to have had only a limited circulation, and so are now scarce.