Canariae I.

Method Copper engraved
Artist Bertius, Petrus
Published [Amsterdam, c.1616]
Dimensions 95 x 132 mm
Notes A miniature map of the Canary Islands from a Latin edition of Petrus Bertius' Tabularum geographicarum contractarum. On the top left, the title is enclosed in a decorative, face-like strap-work cartouche. A scale in miles is included on the bottom right corner. Beautiful detailing with the inclusion of notable towns, as well as two sea monsters, one on the lower edge off the coast of Gran Canaria and another off the coast of La Palma. A depiction of a ship also features, adrift off the coast of Forteventura.

The majority of the plates for Petrus Bertius' Tabularum geographicarum contractarum libri septem were reduced versions of those published in the Mercator-Hondius Atlas Minor. The first edition, published by Cornelis Claes, was published in Amsterdam in 1600, using a suite of miniature maps first published in the Caert-Thresoor by Barent Langenes. Over the next fifty years, the Bertius atlas was issued numerous times in Latin, French, and German, its collection of maps continually increasing with new plates, the majority of which were engraved by Bertius' brothers-in-law Jodocus Hondius and van den Keere. Hondius the Younger's first issue of the Bertius atlas, published in 1616, was an immediate commercial success, and the second edition appeared later the same year.

Petrus Bertius (14th November 1565 – 13th October 1629) was a Flemish theologian, historian, geographer and cartographer and was related to Jodocus Hondius Sr. and Pieter van den Keere by marriage. Bertius studied at the University of Leiden and later traveled in Germany and Russia. In 1620 he emigrated to France where he was appointed as a cosmographer to the court Louis XIII. Bertius published a number of folio maps, but never published an atlas of his own. His maps were either separately published or included in atlases and books by other publishers.

Condition: Clean impression. Dots of foxing to upper left margin, not affecting image. Latin text on verso.
Framing mounted
Price £275.00
Stock ID 43123

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