1640 Chili
DESCRIPTION
This fine, uncolored map presents a detailed seventeenth-century view of the Chilean coastline and interior, published in Amsterdam by Jan Jansson circa 1640.
Oriented with north at the top, the map stretches from the Pacific Ocean inland to the towering Andes, which are rendered as a dense mountain chain labeled Sierra Nevada de los Andes. Coastal soundings, sailing ships, and compass roses animate the Mar de Chili, reflecting the strong maritime focus of Dutch cartography during the Golden Age. Decorative elements include an ornate title cartouche and a sculptural scale cartouche adorned with a winged mask, hallmarks of Jansson’s elegant atlas style.
The map draws upon earlier Spanish sources while refining the geography through Dutch engraving standards, showing principal valleys such as Copiapó, Coquimbo, and Quillota, along with rivers, settlements, and indigenous regions. Place names cluster along the coast, underscoring Spanish colonial settlement patterns, while the interior remains more sparsely detailed, conveying both the limits of European knowledge and the formidable natural barrier of the Andes.
Issued for inclusion in Jansson’s atlases of the 1640s, this example is a blank-verso variant, indicating a separately issued or composite-atlas impression rather than a standard text-backed atlas sheet.
CONDITION
1200 W. 35th Street #425 Chicago, IL 60609 | P: (312) 496 - 3622