1660-1680 Europa delineata et recens edits per Nicolaum Visscher
DESCRIPTION
A beautifully engraved 17th-century map of Europe by Nicolaes Visscher, featuring detailed political geography, early depictions of Iceland and Greenland, and elaborate decorative cartouches.
Published in Amsterdam by the Visscher family, this map presents Europe extending from the Atlantic Ocean and Greenland eastward to the Caspian Sea, and from Scandinavia southward to the Mediterranean and North Africa. Countries, kingdoms, and principalities are distinguished by hand-colored boundaries, while an extensive network of rivers, mountain ranges, cities, and towns illustrates the political and geographical divisions of the period. Iceland appears prominently in the North Atlantic, with Greenland partially depicted along the upper-left edge. The surrounding seas contain sailing vessels, sea creatures, and a compass rose, while rhumb lines and graduated borders add to the map's navigational character.
The lower-left title cartouche is flanked by allegorical figures and animals representing Europe and its neighboring regions. At lower right, an elaborate heraldic cartouche honors Simon van Hoorn, an influential Amsterdam burgomaster who served as an envoy to King Charles II of England in 1660. Originally engraved around 1660 and subsequently issued in several states, the map exemplifies the detailed geographical scholarship and decorative engraving associated with the Dutch Golden Age of cartography.
CONDITION
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