Novus orbis, seu descriptionis Indiae occidentalis - photo 1

Novus orbis, seu descriptionis Indiae occidentalis

Lot 113
27.06.2024 00:00UTC +00:00
Classic
Sold
$ 10 710
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
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ID 1236344
Lot 113 | Novus orbis, seu descriptionis Indiae occidentalis
Estimate value
$ 5 000 – 8 000
LAET, Johannes de (1593-1649). Novus orbis, seu descriptionis Indiae occidentalis. Leiden: Elzevir, 1633.

First edition in Latin of "arguably the finest description of the Americas published in the seventeenth century" (Burden). The author was a noted geographer and a director of the Dutch West India Company. This expanded edition contains 14 maps in total (up from only 10 in the first Dutch edition), all by Hessel Gerritsz, who had trained under Willem Blaeu and was appointed the first exclusive cartographer to the WIC. His "Nova Anglia" map, showing the coast and inland areas from Nova Scotia to North Carolina, is the first printed map to mention the name Manhattan, here spelled Manbattes. "It is also the earliest to use the Dutch names of Noordt Rivier and Zuyd Rivier, for the Hudson and Delaware Rivers respectively, as well as the Indian Massachusets, for the new English colony ... [the Nova Francia map] is one of the foundation maps of Canada" (ibid).

Many of the maps served as prototypes for later Dutch maps of the region. In addition, this work contains many woodcut illustrations of American flora and fauna, making it "one of the most famous contemporary descriptions of the natural history of the New World. The work was highly praised a century later by Charlevoix, attesting to its accuracy" (Streeter). Borba de Moraes p. 451; Burden 229-232; Sabin 38557; Streeter sale 37.

Folio (338 x 213mm). Half-title, title in engraved architectural border, 14 double-page maps by Hessel Gerritsz, numerous woodcut illustrations of plants, animals and inhabitants of the New World in text (introduction bound out of order, washed but pale foxing and toning still visible on most plates and one about 10 leaves, half title soiled, a little soiling to top margin on a few leaves at beginning and end, small repairs to final leaf). Modern calf to style. Provenance: Jesuit College of Lille (inscribed on title page “Collegii Soc Jesu Insulis”) – Ernest E. Keet (bookplate).
Artist:Johannes de Laet (1581 - 1649)
Place of origin:The Netherlands
Auction house category:Printed books
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
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13.06.2024 – 27.06.2024
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Novus orbis, seu descriptionis Indiae occidentalis
Novus orbis, seu descriptionis Indiae occidentalis
$8 000

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