1640 Carte de L'Afrique...
Carte de L'Afrique Corrigee, et augmentee dessus toutes les aultres cy devant faictes par P. Bertius 1640
By: Melchior Tavernier / Petrus Bertius
Date: 1640 (published) Paris
Dimensions: 15.5 x 20 inches (39.37 x 50.8 cm)
This splendid map is the first state of Petrus Bertius's map of Africa, printed by Tavernier. It is based on a 1624 map by Bertius, and named one of nine important lost maps of Africa by Richard Betz in his reference work The Mapping of Africa. This map was separately issued. The second state was published in 1661.
Bertius's map of Africa is one of the earliest maps of Africa to be engraved in France. Melchior Tavernier, the printer, was one of the leading Paris publishers of the early 17th century. This grand decorative map shows Africa in great detail, with attractive engravings throughout. Much African wildlife is depicted everywhere on the continent, though not always in its natural habitat. The seas are full of fanciful monsters, flying fish, a merman and mermaid, and many ships at full sail. Both real and imaginary mountain chains, islands, and kingdoms embellish this map. The Mountains of the Moon are shown to the south of Lake Zaire. The Nile follows a Ptolemaic path. Abundant islands and shoals cover the West Indian Ocean. The map is highly detailed topographically and shows the extent to which Europeans were familiar with Africa’s coastlines with countless tributaries and ports denoted.
The map is rarely available on the market.
Condition: Map is in B condition in its original uncolored state with a strong impression on clean paper with full margins. There is a 1.5" tear that just enters the right margin that has been repaired on the verso using archival materials. Blank verso with the page number "9" written in the top right corner in old ink.
Inventory #11617
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