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Description

Striking example of Nicholas Visscher's rare and decorative map of the British Isles, engraved by Abraham Goos.

This beautifully designed map is one of the finest maps of the British Isles issued during the early 17th Century, and a masterpiece of Dutch Baroque Cartography. The geography is relatively progressive; the depiction of England is an improvement over George Lilly's 1546 map and Scotland reflects the groundbreaking surveys done by Timothy Pont, in the 1590s. The depiction of Ireland is impressive, being based on recent military reconnaissance undertaken by the English Army. An inset in the upper right features the Orkney Islands, off the northern tip of Scotland. A great achievment of the map is that it is copiously detailed without gaining the appearance of being cluttered. All of the counties are delineated and innumerable towns are labelled, with cities distinguished by points of red coloring, while the seas surrounding the isles feature ships and sea monsters.

True to the finest contemporary 'carte a figure' style of Dutch cartography, the map is surrounded by panels which feature artistically virtuous vignettes. The upper corners contain roundels depicting King James I (a great connoisseur of maps who ruled both England and Scotland from 1603 to 1625), and his son Charles I (the ill-fated king who ruled from 1625 until 1649). In both the top and bottom registers are views of major British cities: Newcastle, Cambridge, London, Edinburg, Canterbury, and York at the top and Oxford, Galway, Dublin, Norwich, Bristol, and Chester at the bottom. The side panels feature Britons of various walks of life in their appropriate costume, including nobles, peasants and other indigenous peoples. Also included along the borders, are the coats of arms of the Royal Families of Scotland, Ireland and England.

Nicholas Visscher (born Claes Janszoon Visscher, 1587-1652), was an engraver, cartographer and publisher and one of the leading names of the great era of Dutch Baroque cartography. He was the founder of a dynasty of mapmakers that, from their premises on Amsterdam's Kalverstraat, would play a leading role in the European map trade for the remainder of the 17th Century. Visscher was reknown for enlivening his maps with especially vivid, yet tasteful embellishments and his work was widely admired throughout Europe. This fine map of the British Isles would have been considered an important showpiece, employed to help Visscher access the large and lucrative British market. The map was brought to copper by the master engraver Abraham Goos (1590-1643), who also worked closely with Jodocus Hondius and Jan Jansson. It was first issued in 1623, with the present map being the second edition.

The present map is very rare, and we are aware of only 2 examples of any edition appearing at auction during the last 25 years.

Condition Description
Some spotting within the image. The map is archivally backed, to support cracks in the old color, with some loss, expertly reinstated, most notably in the Hiberni Agretes vignette at the bottom right.
Reference
Schilder, G. (Monumenta) VI, 87.1; Shirley, R.W. (BI 1650-1750) #384.