Orbis Terrarum Tipus De Integro Multis In Locis Emendatus auct: G: Ianssonio

AN UNRECORDED PIRACY MAP, NOT IN SHIRLEY

A magnificent and splendid and extremely rare “carte-à-figures map” of the World.

The world is drawn in two hemispheres at the center surrounded by a wealth of decorative detail. Australia is connected to New Guinea and a great Southern landmass and entitled "Terra Australis Incognita", and a northwest passage is shown through the Straits of Anian.

Based on Nicolaas Geelkercken’s 1617 world map this map is an extremely rare unrecorded piracy of Willem Blaeu's map of the world, perhaps the most interesting piracy copy in the history of mapmaking. It´s a variant of a mentioned piracy map, recorded by Shirley (#333, Plate 253 @ Newberry Library).

Despite its Amsterdam imprint, this map have of Italian origin. Our map was made by a different plate of the Newberry’s map described by Shirley.

Unknown before February 2000, when this example was offered for sale by Altea Gallery of London, wrongly described, following the literature, as Francesco Sabatini and Pietro Todeschi. According with Shirley (#348, Plate 265) a copy of the map was described in the 1975 catalogue of Galerie Siegried Brumme of Frankfurt, as being by Stefano Scolari. This example is now in a private collection in Germany. The map bear the date “AMSTELODAMI MDCLV” that could be the original date, compatible with the Scolari's activity. Even if Klaus Stopp ascribed this work to Pietro Todeschi the map bears the imprint “In Venetia à S. Fosca” that referred to the well known Italian printmaker Stefano Mozzi Scolari.

Copperplate, printed on two sheets, complete of the engraved border and the title, with uncut margins, some paper fold at the back, otherwise very good condition.

As indicated before, Shirley (#333, Plate 253) listed a very similar map, dated AMSTELODAMI MDCXXX (1630); it is part of the Novacco collection (ex Marcel Destombes) preserved at the Newberry Library of Chicago. It's without any publisher's address.

https://i-share.carli.illinois.edu/nby/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?DB=local&v1=1&BBRecID=912003

According with the Curator of the Maps dpt. at Newberry Library "The three X's at the end of the date have obviously been added in by hand… the original imprint was AMSTELODAMI MDCL…". We have just got an image of the map from the Newberry Library and it’s clear that the date is printed an nothing was late added by hand. The imprint “AMSTELODAMI MDCXXX” is bigger if compared to the other inscriptions in the cartouche and could be made on a previous, erased, date.

Another state of the map, dated 1669 is described by Shirley; the imprint is now” AMSTELODAMI MDCLXIX”. The two editions are coming from the same plate, but it’s not clear if “MDCXXX” is the original date of the map.

Literature

cf. Shirley, "The mapping of the World", No. 333, Plate 253; cf. Shirley, "The mapping of the World", No. 348, Plate 265; cf. Klaus Stopp, ‘Drei Karten von Francesco Sabatini', Mappae Antiquae Liber Amicorum; Günter Schilder, p. 281-285.