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Description

Old color example of Jansson's map of the Southeastern United States.

This map is based on the larger 1606 Mercator-Hondius map and is very similar to Guillaume Blaeu's map of the same title. This map covers an area from the mouth of the Chesapeake bay to Georgia. On this map a number of settlements are named, including Jamestown (est 1609) and Newport News (est. 1621). One of the great early obtainable maps.

As noted by Burden,

The greatest improvement occurs in the northern half of the map north of Porto Royal. Whereas on the Hondius [map] the coastline towards C. de. Ste. Romano (present day Cape Fear) veered directly east, Blaeu more correctly takes it north-east, placing the cape closer to its true position of 34 degrees. This span of coastline is approximately that of present day South Carolina's. This now presents to us a more accurately proportioned Outer Banks region, radically reduced in size but still slighty too far north. For these improvements, Blaeu [and Jannson] drew upon the extremely rare DE EYLANDEN . . . by Hessel Gerritsz., c. 1631. The Outer Banks combine the placenames of Gerritsz and Hondius, often using two different ones for the same area . . .

Chesapeake Bay was depicted just as a small bay on Hondius' map of 1606, as John Smith was yet to explore these waters. The Gerritsz terminated at this point, andonly two placenames appeared. Blaeu draws largely on Smith's map for much of the nomenclature but introduces some English [names] from an unknown source. The most important is Newport nesa, Newport News, founded in 1621 and apparently shown here for the first time on a printed map. Also new are Bermouth, Stortingen and Arglas . . .

Includes the marvelous mythical lakes in the interior and other conjectural cartography of the time. Large cartouche, 2 coasts of arms, 2 compass roses and several sailing ships. Blaeu's map is nearly identical to Jansson's map. The easiest way to distinguish the two maps is by the erroneous longitudinal number 200 in the right corner on Blaeu's map. The correct number (300) appears on Jansson's map.

Condition Description
Old Color. Uneven toning and some evidence of mat burn. Would clean up nicely.
Reference
Burden 253. Cumming 41.
Jan Jansson Biography

Jan Janssonius (also known as Johann or Jan Jansson or Janszoon) (1588-1664) was a renowned geographer and publisher of the seventeenth century, when the Dutch dominated map publishing in Europe. Born in Arnhem, Jan was first exposed to the trade via his father, who was also a bookseller and publisher. In 1612, Jan married the daughter of Jodocus Hondius, who was also a prominent mapmaker and seller. Jonssonius’ first maps date from 1616.

In the 1630s, Janssonius worked with his brother-in-law, Henricus Hondius. Their most successful venture was to reissue the Mercator-Hondius atlas. Jodocus Hondius had acquired the plates to the Mercator atlas, first published in 1595, and added 36 additional maps. After Hondius died in 1612, Henricus took over publication; Janssonius joined the venture in 1633. Eventually, the atlas was renamed the Atlas Novus and then the Atlas Major, by which time it had expanded to eleven volumes. Janssonius is also well known for his volume of English county maps, published in 1646.

Janssonius died in Amsterdam in 1664. His son-in-law, Johannes van Waesbergen, took over his business. Eventually, many of Janssonius’ plates were sold to Gerard Valck and Pieter Schenk, who added their names and continued to reissue the maps.