A beautiful example of this fascinating and desirable 16th century woodcut--Munster’s visual compendium of sea and land monsters. Many of the former were inspired by whale sightings, as is suggested by the several creatures in the image spouting water. Other beasts seem quite familiar, though.....
One of Ortelius’s most important European maps, in an attractive example. It clearly summarizes what 16th century geographers believed of northern Europe and the waters above it. In his atlas, Ortelius cited an array of cartographers whose ideas contributed to this map, including several whose maps are now unobtainable. Greenland.....
Superb example of this richly engraved chart of the southeastern coast of Sweden from Öland to the approach to Stockholm. At the center of the chart is a magnificent compass rose, and the Baltic Sea – here called the Swedish Sea – is decorated with ships and sea monsters. On.....
A very early issue, the first with French text, of this attractive, richly colored map of Iceland, which shows an erupting Mount Hekla.
A superb bird’s-eye view, published just after Stockholm had become the official capital of the Swedish Empire. The view is oriented to the south, displaying the city’s northern fortifications and gates. The royal castle appears prominently to the left of center. In the foreground, Stockholm’s suburbs of wooden houses stand.....
A very attractive nautical chart of the North Sea, including the eastern coastline of Scotland and northern England, Denmark, Sweden and Norway. The attractive cartouche shows a logging scene, alluding to Norway’s timber trade. The Van Keulen firm was a leading supplier of charts, instruments, and maritime related books of.....
This dramatic engraving would have served as the polar cap (calotte) for Coronelli’s largest globe measuring roughly 3 ½ feet in diameter. It presents the northernmost regions of the world at a time when European understanding of them was in flux. Baffin’s Bay is shown, including some tantalizing passages westwards.....
A beautifully engraved and colored map of all of Denmark, part of northern Germany, and southwestern Sweden. The cartouche features the royal arms of Denmark and mythological figures.
One of the earliest acquirable maps of Scandinavia. While many of the maps associated with Ptolemy’s Geographia appear in most editions of the book, this modern map only appeared in the Ulm, Waldseemuller and Fries editions of Geographia. This depiction of Scandinavia appeared for the first time in the extremely.....
First state of this rare, important and boldly decorative chart that embodies one of the first major successes in the Dutch effort to discover a Northeast Passage. It accurately reveals, for the first time, a key passage along the northern Russian coast. The chart was drawn by Jan Huygen van...
An apparently very rare map that hasn’t been seen in catalogues in at least 20 years. As indicated in a notation following the title, it was based on Russian sources: “Reduced chiefly, from the great Map of Russia, in 107 Sheets.” It is thus a very accomplished, precisely detailed work.....
