A beautiful example, in bold, rare original color, of the ancient map of the Arabian Peninsula from the most important edition of Ptolemy’s Geographia of the 16th century. It is among the earliest acquirable maps to focus on the region, and it is among the most beautiful of any Waldseemuller... More
A superb example of the first printed Western map to focus on China and Japan, in the very scarce second state. (This like all Fries maps is much more commonly seen in the third and fourth states of 1535 and 1541.) Although in rudimentary form, the map shows all of... More
Strong example, with a bold strike of the second state of the earliest collectible map of the Western Hemisphere. It is also the earliest to refer to the Pacific Ocean (along with Munster's world map) by a variant of its present name, here Mare... More
The earliest separate map specifically of Asia. Munster’s striking woodcut map significantly updated earlier European depictions of Asia that were based almost entirely on Claudius Ptolemy, the second century A. D. Alexandrian geographer. For example, the coast of China is here in more recognizable form, and although much too slender... More
An attractive example of the Malay Peninsula map from Munster’s 1552 Ptolemy. The map shows “India beyond the Ganges,” then a near-mythical region reputed to be a source of gold. Beyond the peninsula lies a huge bay – the Sinus Magnus – which was the supposed body of water bounded... More
A very early issue from a 1570 edition. Three maps on a single sheet each showing important parts of the classical world--Asia Minor (western Turkey), Egypt, and Carthage (Tunis)--but here depicted with then up-to-date cartography. More
Fascinating engraving containing two aerial views of the city, one as it was at the beginning of the first century BCE, and the other a contemporaneous view. Each is accompanied by legends listing important structures and places that are keyed to the plans. In the lower right is a vignette... More
A superb example of the first state of Gerard de Jode’s map of primarily Arabia. Apart from its source – Gastaldi’s virtually unobtainable 1561 Il Disegno della Seconda Parte dell'Asia – this is the earliest, detailed “modern” map of the Arabian Peninsula and Persian Gulf region. A better map of... More
A superb example of the rare 1578 edition of this fine map of the Middle East, spanning from Turkey and the eastern Mediterranean to western Pakistan. The De Jodes (Gerard and his son Cornelis) produced only two editions of their atlas, the Speculum, and the first of these is of... More
One of the most distinctive, early cartographic curiosities: a woodcut, cloverleaf-shaped map of the world with Jerusalem at the center. The map echoes the style of medieval mappae mundi, with Jerusalem at its center and with each of the leaves of the trefoil representing the continents of Asia, Africa and... More
The first separate map of the Pacific in a strong example. “One of the most important maps that appeared in the Ortelius atlases ...” (Burden). With its two splendid cartouches and a well-detailed illustration of Magellan’s flagship, the Victoria, this is also one of the most beautifully engraved of Ortelius’... More
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... More
An attractive example of the first Latin edition. “This fine map represented a marked improvement over the depiction of Southeast Asia on the map of the Asian continent…”—Suarez. It depicts the Spice Islands, the source of the wealth that underwrote the Dutch Golden Age, and it appeared at the height... More
A beautifully engraved and magnificently colored map of Asia Minor and Cyprus, from one of the most illustrious publishers of the Dutch Golden Age of Mapmaking. It includes most of the Greek Islands and a well-detailed depiction of Cyprus. A pasha at lower right holds a mileage scale; two turbaned... More
An exceptionally fresh example, in brilliant original color, of the earliest separate map of the area that now includes Hong Kong. Macau, Guangzhou (Canton), and several other place names appear in the Zhu (Pearl) River delta, and Hainan Island to the southwest is quite well detailed. Finely engraved Oriental figures... More
A rare, beautifully colored map of southern Iraq of the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, focusing on Basra, shown in a small bird-s-eye view at lower right. Fifty-six place names on the map are in Arabic. It is among the few printed maps, this early, that we've seen... More
Very scarce, attractive map of the Mughal or Mogul Empire that controlled at its height much of India and Afghanistan from early in the 16th century; it gradually dwindled until its final defeat by the British in 1857. Its leadership was Muslim, though its origins were in central Asia and... More
“It is extremely important and its excellence and value are indicated that, more than a century after its compilation, the great cartographer d’Anville (as noted by the geographer Viscount de Santarem) utilized Teixeira substantially for his chart of 1761” (Norwich). The chart presents a summary of Portuguese cartographic knowledge of... More
A bright, vibrantly colored example of this cartes-a-figures map of the Turkish Empire with city views and costumed figures in the borders. Among the cities depicted at top are Damascus, Jerusalem, Istanbul and Alexandria. The side figures in their national dress, both male and female, hail from Greece, Egypt, Assyria... More
Superb original-color example of the first edition of one of the most beautiful 17th-century charts of the area. Schilder described the maps of the De Wit firm as being "distinguished by their excellent craftsmanship, exactness and beauty." Romeyn de Hooghe’s intricately etched cartouche shows a European trader accompanied by a.... More
One of the earliest maps of the Turkish Empire engraved and published in England. Printed from two separate copperplates on one sheet, the map depicts the Ottoman Empire from Hungary to Persia and including the Empire’s frontier with Russia north of the Black Sea. Blome... More
A beautifully engraved, fascinating and scarce globe gore by Coronelli, generally recognized as the greatest early globemaker. The gore displays Russia, the Caucasus, and the Fertile Crescent, including modern day Iraq and part of Iran. Coronelli did not publish this gore to be assembled into a globe by the buyer... More
This was the best, generally available map of its day of Southeast Asia. Dashed lines show the routes of trading vessels throughout the area, including the route that passed through present day Singapore. The much contended Spice Islands are shown in good detail as is the Philippines. The northern coast... More
A distinctively decorated map of the Holy Land in a beautiful example. The map's exclusively Old Testament imagery in the cartouche includes the figures of Moses and Solomon. Abraham is also shown in the process of sacrificing Isaac, interrupted by an angel helpfully pointing out a ram hiding behind the... More
A most unusual, beautiful, and rare world map--the only one we have seen on the market that was conceived according to Buddhist cosmology. “It became the prototype of other Buddhist world maps” (Cortazzi). Accordingly, China and India are positioned at the center of the earth, and along with Japan, they... More