Item #11095 Polo Settentrionale, o Boreale et Artico. V. CORONELLI.
The Arctic Boldly Evoked
Arctic/ Canada/ Northern Europe.
[Venice, 1695]

Polo Settentrionale, o Boreale et Artico.

Diameter 15 inches, Some creasing, else fine condition.

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. Nova Zemla is shown in detail, suggesting the possibilities of a northeast passage but also highlighting the dramatic failures of the Dutch to achieve such a route. At the northernmost extent of Nova Zemla is depicted the Behouden Huys, the lodge in which the crew of Barentsz’s ill-starred voyage wintered, built from the wreck of his ice-bound ship. The map itself makes a conspicuous effort to delineate only verified areas, often citing a particular voyage or explorers for the depiction of given areas. It is decorated with scenes of bear hunting and whaling.

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