1650 Nova Totius Terrarum Orbis Geographica ac Hydrographica Tabula
DESCRIPTION
This remarkable and rare double-hemisphere world map by Jacob Aertz Colom is significant not only for its geography, but for its bold visual embrace of the new astronomy. Produced in the mid-17th century, it stands among the earliest printed world maps to prominently illustrate the Copernican system at a time when heliocentrism remained controversial and, in some regions, doctrinally suspect. In doing so, the map transforms the traditional decorative world image into a statement about humanity’s evolving understanding of the cosmos.
The Copernican Cosmos
At the top center, a carefully engraved diagram presents the Copernican model with the sun placed at the center of the planetary orbits. This was no incidental embellishment. The heliocentric theory, first advanced by Nicolaus Copernicus in 1543, had not yet achieved universal acceptance and could invite criticism from religious authorities. Its prominent placement here signals intellectual alignment with the emerging scientific worldview rather than the long-established Ptolemaic cosmology.
In this rare variant, the lower portrait medallions, which in other states depict Jodocus Hondius and Gerard Mercator, have been replaced with likenesses of Nicolaus Copernicus and Tycho Brahe. Brahe’s meticulous astronomical observations provided the empirical foundation upon which Johannes Kepler later built his laws of planetary motion, linking precision measurement to theoretical breakthrough. By substituting these scientific figures for cartographic predecessors, Colom reorients the map’s intellectual allegiance toward the astronomers who reshaped European thought.
Geography Between Knowledge and Myth
The geographic content reflects a world in transition, balancing new discoveries with inherited speculation. California appears prominently as an island, consistent with the cartographic convention that took hold in the 1620s. The northwest coast of North America is unusually extended and populated with place names corresponding to present-day California, reflecting Spanish exploration reports circulating in Europe. Yet the interior remains conjectural. A substantial “River of the West” crosses the continent, suggesting the hoped-for transcontinental waterway, while the northern latitudes leave open the possibility of a Northwest Passage linking the Atlantic and Pacific.
In the North Atlantic, the mythical island of Frisland appears, a persistent cartographic phantom derived from the Zeno narrative that continued to surface on maps well into the seventeenth century. South America retains two large interior lakes, one tied to enduring legends surrounding El Dorado and the imagined wealth of the continent’s interior. In Africa, expansive inland lakes are shown as the apparent source of the Nile, reflecting inherited geographic models even though the specific “Mountains of the Moon” are not named here. These elements illustrate how Renaissance cartography still wove classical authority and exploration rumor into its depiction of the globe.
Elsewhere, Terra del Fuego is clearly defined as an island, separated from the great southern continent of Terra Australis, marking a refinement in southern geography. Portions of Australia’s western coastline and the western shores of its northeastern peninsula appear, reflecting Dutch voyages that charted these coasts, though early navigators initially believed parts of this landmass were connected to New Guinea. Asia presents a curious northeastern coastline, and Japan lacks a fully articulated northern boundary, underscoring the limits of European knowledge in the North Pacific. Across the southern latitudes, Terra Australis remains expansive and speculative, a reminder that even as astronomy advanced with mathematical precision, terrestrial geography remained partly uncertain.
Jacob Aertsz Colom (c. 1599–1673) was a Dutch cartographer, engraver, and publisher active in Amsterdam during the height of the Dutch Golden Age. The son of the printer Aert Colom, he built a successful publishing house specializing in sea charts, pilot guides, and atlases intended for navigators and merchants engaged in global trade. Colom is best known for his maritime atlas De Vyerighe Colom (The Fiery Column), first issued in 1632, which rivaled the charts of the Blaeu and Janssonius firms. His work combined practical hydrographic utility with decorative ambition, reflecting the Netherlands’ dominance in seventeenth-century commerce and navigation.
In this rare Copernicus and Brahe state, Colom’s world map captures a pivotal moment when celestial science advanced with bold confidence while terrestrial geography still blended discovery with enduring myth. It stands as a powerful visual record of an age when both the heavens and the earth were being fundamentally reimagined.
CONDITION
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