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ALCEDO, Antonio de (1735-1812) and THOMPSON, G.A.

[Atlas to Thompson's Alcedo; or Dictionary of America & West Indies; Collated with all the most Recent Authorities, and Composed Chiefly from Scarce and Original Documents, for that Work, By A. Arrowsmith, Hydrographer to His Royal Highness the Prince Regent

London: George Smeeton, 1816]. Large folio (26 1/4 x 20 1/2 inches). Small format (8 1/8 x 4 3/4 inches) index leaf mounted on front pastedown, otherwise mounted on guards throughout, 5 wall maps, hand-coloured in outline, by Aaron Arrowsmith, on 19 double-page or folding engraved sheets, each numbered on a small early paper label pasted to the verso of each sheet ('North America' on three sheets [numbered 'I'-'III'], 'United States' four sheets ['IV'-'VII'], 'Mexico' four sheets ['VIII'-'XI'], 'West Indies' two sheets ['XII'-'XIII'], 'South America' six sheets ['XIV'-'XIX']), extra-illustrated with a contemporary pen, ink and watercolour key map (sheet size:17 x 16 1/4 inches) laid down on a larger sheet of blank wove paper, the larger sheet mounted on the front free endpaper. (Without letterpress title, various small separations to folds). Expertly bound to style in half diced russia over original marbled paper-covered boards, the borders between the leather and marbled paper on the covers marked with a decorative gilt roll, with the paper armorial book plate of the Earl of Dalhousie pasted onto the centre of the upper cover, the spine divided into eight compartments with semi-raised bands, the bands flanked by blind fillets, lettered in the second and fourth compartments, the others with a repeat decoration in gilt. Provenance: George Ramsay, 9th Earl of Dalhousie (1770-1838, lieutenant governor of Nova Scotia [1816-1820], governor-in-chief of British North America [1820-1828], bookplates).

[With:]
Antonio de ALCEDO (1735-1812). The Geographical and Historical Dictionary of America and the West Indies, Containing an Entire Translation of the Spanish Work of Colonel Don Antonio de Alcedo ... With Large Additions and Compilations ... London: for James Carpenter [and others], 1812-1815. 5 volumes, quarto (10 1/2 x 8 3/8 inches). 3pp. preliminary list of subscribers in vol.I. (Half-titles lacking). Contemporary russia, covers with outer border composed from triple fillets tooled in gilt, enclosing a decorative neo-classical roll in blind, spine in six compartments with semi-raised bands, the bands highlighted with a decorative roll in blind and flanked by double fillets in blind, lettered in gilt in the second and fourth compartments, the others with repeat decoration in gilt, gilt turn-ins, marbled edges.

The Dalhousie copy of the most important printed atlas of the Americas of its time, containing foundation wall maps of the region by the greatest British cartographer of his generation. This important copy with contemporary manuscript additions charting Sir John Franklin's second Arctic expedition, possibly by Franklin himself. The atlas is accompanied by a lovely first edition set of the text of Thompson's translation and expansion of Alcedo's classic work on the Americas.

"Aaron Arrowsmith, Hydrographer to the King of England and Geographer to the Prince of Wales, was the most influential and respected map publisher of the first quarter of the nineteenth century ... His role in cartographic production was to gather the best information available from a wide variety of sources, weigh the relative merits of conflicting data, and compile from this the most accurate depiction possible of an area. Arrowsmith accomplished this synthesis better than any other commercial map maker of his day and, as a result, his maps were the most sought after and highly prized on three continents" (Martin & Martin, p. 113).

Arrowsmith specialised in large multi-sheet maps. These were generally separately-issued, and are now very scarce. His five great wall maps of the Americas were particularly well-received, and became "foundation or prototype maps of the area and were extensively copied by other publishers" (Tooley). These five wall maps were of North America (first published 1795), the United States (1796), the West Indies (1803), Mexico (1810), and South America (1810). They were generally republished many times, as new information became available. Thomas Jefferson considered the 1803 edition the best map of the continent in print at the time, and it was used extensively in planning Lewis & Clark's expedition (1805-6). Likewise, the 1814 edition of the North America (offered here) was the first map to make use of Lewis & Clark's map of the same year, and the first to combine Lewis & Clark and Zebulon Pike's data onto one map.

The Atlas to Thompson's Alcedo is quite remarkable in that it contains all five of Arrowsmith's foundation maps for the Americas gathered together, and bound into one volume. The Atlas was intended to accompany Antonio de Alcedo's The Geographical and Historical Dictionary of America and the West Indies ... With Large Additions and Compilations (London: 1812-1815. 5 volumes, quarto), i.e. G.A. Thompson's English translation of Alcedo's Diccionario geográfico-histórico de las Indias Occidentales ó América: es á saber: de los reynos del Perú, Nueva España, Tierra Firme, Chile, y Nuevo reyno de Granada. (Madrid: 1786-1789).

The present atlas is an early version, with the following maps:
1. A Map Exhibiting all the New Discoveries in the Interior Parts of North America ... A. Arrowsmith ... January 1st 1795 Additions to 1811 Additions to June 1814. On three folding sheets, overall image area: 48 ¼ x 57 1/8 inches. (Browned). This copy with manuscript additions to the first sheet, in pencil, drawing in the discoveries made by Sir John Franklin in 1826 on the north coast between the mouths of the Mackenzie and Coppermine rivers, and marking the course of the Coppermine south-west towards Great Bear Lake [see below]. According to Stevens and Tree, "This map was repeatedly re-issued as new discoveries came to light." The present sixth issue is the first to include the important discoveries made by Lewis and Clark during their trans-American expedition. According to Rumsey, "This issue ... remaps the entire continent west of the Mississippi. The changes between this and the last edition are monumental" (p.12). Heckrotte TMC 6/87; Rumsey 32; Stevens & Tree 48 (f); Tooley MCC 68; Wheat 313.

2. A Map of the United States of America Drawn from a number of Critical Researches By A. Arrowsmith ... Jan 1st 1796. Additions to 1802 [but watermarked 1811]. On four folding sheets, overall image area: 46 ¼ x 55 ½ inches. Stevens and Tree's fifth issue: "Many new place-names and rivers added. A copy of third issue had been observed with paper watermarked 1811 [as here]." Cf. Rumsey 3445 and 4309 (both later issues); Stevens & Tree 79 (e).

3. A New Map of Mexico and adjacent provinces compiled from original documents by A. Arrowsmith ... 5th October 1810 [but watermarked 1811]. On four folding sheets, overall image area: 50 1/8 x 62 inches. First issue. Cf. Phillips p.408; cf. Rumsey 2032 (last issue, of c.1825); cf. Streeter Texas 1046.

4. Chart of the West Indies and Spanish Dominions in North America by A. Arrowsmith ... 1803 ... Additions to 1810. On two folding sheets, overall image area: 47 5/8 x 55 ½ inches. (Small tears to folds of first sheet).

5. Outlines of the Physical and Political Divisions of South America: Delineated by A. Arrowsmith partly from scarce and original documents published before the year 1806 but principally from manuscript maps & surveys made between the years 1771 and 1806. Corrected from accurate astronomical observations to 1810 ... Published 4th January 1811 ... Additions to 1814." On six folding sheets, overall image area: 94 x 78 inches. (Offsetting, small tears to folds, the fifth sheet creased). The final sheet includes a large uncoloured inset of Patagonia, Tierra del Fuego and the Falklands.

In addition, the above maps are preceded by a contemporary manuscript key map. This is evidently professionally prepared, and may have been produced and bound-in by the Arrowsmiths in place of the usual title page, at the request of the owner of the atlas, the Earl of Dalhousie. Dalhousie was appointed lieutenant governor of Nova Scotia in July 1816. He arrived in Halifax in October 1816, equipped with "an intelligent and well-stocked mind, an exacting sense of duty, a readiness to command and an expectation of being obeyed ... Conscientious and full of curiosity ... With an appreciative eye for rugged scenery... , he adopted the habit of making frequent trips to the countryside" (Peter Burroughs, writing for the Dictionary of Canadian Biography). Given this lively interest in his new domain, it is safe to assume that the present work was often consulted by the lieutenant governor. After a relatively successful period in Nova Scotia, Dalhousie was appointed governor-in-chief of North America in April 1820. His period in office (from 1820 to 1828) spanned the opening burst of northwest passage explorations by the British Navy, events which the governor would have been duty-bound to follow closely.

In Montreal, on Friday 24th August 1827, one of the early heroes of Arctic Exploration, Captain John Franklin was given an audience with Dalhousie. Dalhousie recorded the meeting in detail in his journal: "On Thursday Capt. Franklin arrived about 3pm and soon after took me aside to say, that he had brought his charts of the route of the expedition with him, & was ready to describe them whenever it might be agreeable. As it was late, we fixed on next day after breakfast and a most interesting forenoon we spent over them. He had several parts on large scale, starting from Fort William on Lake Superior, & proceeding to McKenzie's river, Cape Anxiety and Fog island, where he was stopt & obliged to turn back. After these he shewed ... his general & principal chart, which comprehends only the country explored this last year, when he started from Fort Franklin on the Great Bear Lake, S.W. corner. ... The charts are beautifully executed by a Mr. Kendall, a young man of whom [Franklin] speaks very highly. He went over these giving the clearest description of the relative situations of the MacKenzie & Coppermine rivers, also that of the Rocky Mountains" (M. Whitelaw , editor. The Dalhousie Journals [Canada: 1982], vol.III, pp. 110-111).

The manuscript additions to the first sheet in the present atlas (A Map Exhibiting all the New Discoveries in the Interior Parts of North America) suggest that it was used during this meeting. This first sheet of the whole of North America is on a large enough scale to have allowed Franklin to put his more localised charts in context, and in three areas Franklin's discoveries are sketched in pencil and inscribed "Capt Franklin 1826." These inscriptions appear to be in Franklin's hand. The sketched geographical features record: 1. the coast to the west of the mouth of the MacKenzie River; 2. the coast between the MacKenzie and Coppermine Rivers; and 3. the approximate course of the Coppermine River south-west towards Great Bear Lake. Following the meeting, Franklin continued back to Britain, arriving in September 1827 to universal acclaim. He was knighted in April 1829, in recognition of his achievements.

Lowndes I, 26; Sabin 683 ("Copies are sometimes found with an atlas of ... maps by Arrowsmith, but they are rare"); Cf. M. Whitelaw (editor) The Dalhousie Journals (Canada: 1982), vol.III, pp. 110-111.

#23952$115,000.00
 
 
APIANUS, Petrus (1495-1552)

Isagoge in Typum Cosmographicum seu Mappam Mundi

Landschut: Johannes Weyssenburger, 1521. Small quarto (7 7/8 x 6 inches). [8]pp. Wood-cut map on the title. Quarter vellum with tips over marbled paper covered boards, black morocco label on upper cover. Modern red half morocco and cloth slipcase.

First edition of geographer Peter Apianus' first printed work, describing a large world map of which no copy has survived.

The ellipsoidal map herein described is thought to have been based on the great Waldseemüller map of 1507, the first world map to use the term "America" Published about four years before his Cosmographicus Liber (which passed through thirty-five editions in the sixteenth century), the Isagoge is divided into twelve "Propositiones" showing how to use the map. Many of the comments and instructions in this guide are intended to explain the use of the map for astronomical and calendrical calculations. In his preface, he mentions his "Cosmography," which was not published until 1524, and which still stands as a foundational work on the subject. The preliminary section of the Isagoge was reissued in part in his Declaratio et Usus Type Cosmographici at Regensburg, probably the next year.

"Harrisse, who knew this 'rare pamphlet' only in the copy in the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, believed that it could not describe the 1520 map and argued ingeniously that the 1520 map was published at the expense of Luc Alantse, whereas the Isagoge was dedicated to the Duke of Saxony. Ducal patronage would almost certainly supersede that of a private citizen. The James Ford Bell catalogue dates the Isagoge to 1520. Weyssenberger was the publisher of both the Isagoge and the Cosmographicus Liber. The map described in the Isagoge, although no copy is known, is a landmark in the history of the geography of the New World and this pamphlet describing it is an Americanum of the greatest rarity and cartographical significance" (Nebenzahl).

Apianus was a Professor of Mathematics in Vienna, as well as a mapmaker, writer, and leading authority on cosmography - a subject encompassing astronomy, geography, and cartography. The woodcut map on the title of the Isagoge shows Europe, Asia and Africa, with Venice, Portugal and "Callicut" (i.e. Kozhikode) identified.

Very rare in the market with only three copies traced for sale in the last century.

European Americana 521/2; Bell Catalogue A-280; Van Ortroy, Bibliographie de l'Oeuvre de Pierre Apian, 10; Harrisse, History of America, p.534; Bagrow, History of Cartography, p.130; Stillwell I:22; Nebenzahl Catalogue 12:9; Leclerc 31; cf. Shirley, Mapping of the World 45.

#26306$85,000.00
 
 
ARROWSMITH, Aaron (1750-1823) and Samuel LEWIS

A New and Elegant General Atlas. Comprising all the new discoveries, to the present time. Containing sixty three maps, drawn by Arrowsmith and Lewis.

Boston: Published by Thomas & Andrews, May, 1812. Quarto (10 5/8 x 9 inches). Letterpress title (verso blank), 1p. list of maps (verso blank). 63 engraved maps (2 folding). Expertly bound to style in calf-backed contemporary marbled paper-covered boards, flat spine in six compartments divided by fillets, lettered in the second compartment. Provenance: Henry Roice (contemporary signature on the front pastedown).

Nice copy of a scarce early American atlas, with an important early mapping of the American West

The first edition of this atlas was published in Philadelphia in 1804. American mapmaker Samuel Lewis had formed a partnership with English mapmaker Aaron Arrowsmith to publish an atlas to accompany editions of Morse's American Geography, which had been criticized for its poor illustrations. The atlas, as the title page infers, was a separate production could be used with any gazetteer or geographical work. Phillips lists further editions of 1805, 1812 and 1819. According to Ristow, all editions contain the same maps. Almost half of the maps in the atlas are of American interest: in addition to the two folding world maps at the front, maps 29-59 are of the Americas, with maps 31-50 being of individual States or Territories. Of note are four maps of importance to the American West, titled: North America, Louisiana, British Possessions in America and Spanish Possessions in North America (cf. Wheat, Mapping the Transmississippi West 259, 260, 261 & 262). The map titled Louisiana, which is based on the Soulard mapping, is of particular importance, depicting the region west of the Mississippi explored by Lewis and Clark. "The Samuel Lewis map was the primary map of the newly purchased territory of Louisiana and its surroundings and, as such, reflected the shaped American popular geographical images of the western interior at the time of Lewis and Clark" (Mapping the West, p. 80).

Phillips, Atlases 718; Ristow pp.265-266; Rumsey 2436 (1804 first edition)

#24633$3,500.00
 
 
ARROWSMITH, Aaron (1750-1823)

[India] To Mark Wood Esqr. M.P. colonel of the army in India late chief engineer and surveyor general, Bengal this Map of India compiled from various interesting and valuable materials is inscribed in grateful testimony of his liberal communications by ... A. Arrowsmith

London: Arrowsmith, 1804. Large folio (26 1/8 x 21 inches). Engraved map, hand-coloured in outline, on 6 sheets joined as 3 folding sheets. Expertly bound to style in half dark red straight-grained morocco over contemporary marbled paper-covered boards, contemporary brown endpapers.

The greatest map of India at the turn of the 19th century.

A truly spectacular map: the combined image area if the sheets were joined would be 75 x 63 inches, giving an idea of the vast size of the Indian sub-continent. Arrowsmith's dedication of this map to Wood is probably more a reflection of the fact that Wood was in the public eye (he had recently published two successful works on India and the route to India), than a recognition of his work as a surveyor (which had ended over ten years earlier). Sir Mark Wood (1747-1829) had returned to England in 1793 after a distinguished career in the East India Company, culminating with his appointment as surveyor-general in 1787 and chief engineer in Bengal in 1790. The Dictionary of National Biography notes that the British Library holds three manuscript surveys by Wood of Calcutta and its environs.

#24537$11,000.00
 
 
BEERS, Frederick W. (1839-1933)

Atlas of New York and Vicinity from actual surveys by and under the direction of F.W. Beers, assisted by Geo. E. Warner & others.

New York: Published by F.W. Beers, A.D. Ellis & C.G. Soule..., 1867. Folio (17 1/2 x 14 1/2 inches). Lithographed title, list of maps (with Table of Distances on verso), 1 large, folding hand-coloured lithographic map of "New York [City] and Vicinity", 61 hand-coloured lithographic town plans (10 folding and printed on thinner paper, 1 double-page, some with integral letterpress text), 5 leaves at end with 14 images printed using 'Heliographic Engraving', being illustrations of buildings in various towns in NY after drawings by R.K. Sneden (10) or after photographs by Rockwood & Co. (2). (Endpapers creased, scattered minor creases or separations). Publisher's black morocco-backed light brown cloth, covers blocked in blind, the upper cover with title blocked in gilt.

Scarce issue of Beer's famous county atlas covering Westchester, Dutchess and Putnam counties: "a documentary record of nineteenth century life and delightful specimens of American folk art" (Ristow). This copy in lovely condition.

F. W. Beers, along with other members of his family, were among the leading county atlas publishers in period immediately following the Civil War. Their atlases provide "a detailed cartographical, biographical, and pictorial record of a large segment of rural America in the Victorian age" (Ristow). Beers' county atlases contain maps, town plans, as well as views of principal buildings and residents, along with textual information about the region. Many of the maps provide the names of specific home owners, as well as information about the occupations and physical locations of the various tradesmen in each village.

Beers first published his Atlas of New York & Vicinity in 1867. Somewhat a misnomer, the atlas is at its essence a county atlas of Westchester, Dutchess and Putnam counties (although includes a large folding map of the region covering much of New Jersey, the southeastern counties of New York and western Connecticut, and a second map of Manhattan and Brooklyn). It has been observed by McCorkle and others that various issues of the atlas were published in that year and the following with significant differences in the number and selection of maps included by the publisher. This was the result of clever marketing by Beers, intending to sell the atlases to customers in specific regions. "Beers tailored the contents of the atlases carefully. He prepared 137 maps for the area he called 'New York City and Vicinity' but no one atlas had more than 61 [as here], and one had as few as 36" (McCorkle). Some copies of the atlas contain only maps of Westchester and Putnam counties, but without Dutchess County maps; other copies contain all of Dutchess and Putnam counties, but with only a portion of the more populated areas of Westchester; others include only the southern portions of Dutchess County and select maps from Westchester; others include a portion of Westchester County, neither Dutchess nor Putnam counties, but with the addition of Fairfield County, Connecticut maps. See McCorkle for a detailed tabular listing of the maps in 6 different copies examined.

The present copy of the atlas includes the largest possible number of maps, with a significant portion of Westchester County and the full complement of Putnam and Dutchess County maps.

Cf. Barbara B. McCorkle 'The Strange Case of F.W. Beers and The Atlas of New York and Vicinity' in Meridian 5, pp.39-43; cf. Phillips 2290; cf. Rumsey 4631; cf. Ristow, American Maps and Mapmakers, chapter 25.

#20495$2,250.00
 
 
BLAEU, Willem (1571-1638) and Jan BLAEU (1596-1673)

Le Theatre du Monde ou Nouvel Atlas Contenant Les Chartes et Descriptions de tous les Pais de la Terre Mis en lumiere

Amsterdam: 1645-46. 4 volumes, folio (20 x 13 1/2 inches). 334 copper-engraved maps with very fine period hand-colouring. Original publisher's vellum, panelled in gilt with central gilt arabesques and corner pieces, cloth ties, modern black morocco-backed cloth boxes, gilt spines.

An early edition of the greatest world atlas ever produced. The Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (or Theatre du Monde, in French) marks the intermediary stage in the development of the "greatest and finest atlas ever published" (Koeman).

In 1630, Willem Janzzon Blaeu, the official cartographer of the Dutch East India Company, published his first world atlas, the Atlantis Appendix, with 60 maps. The second expanded edition, with 99 maps, appeared in the following year. Blaeu continued to produce new maps at such a rate that by 1634, he abandoned the single volume format, and announced his intention to publish a new world atlas, entitled the Theatrum. This atlas, which originally incorporated most of the maps from Blaeu's Appendix, was expanded so rapidly that by 1646, when this version appeared, it consisted of four volumes with 334 maps.

The acclaim that Blaeu's atlas has always received is based primarily upon its extremely high production standards. The quality of the engraving, the paper, and colouring are of the highest order, and place it in the first rank among seventeenth century illustrated books.

The maps are embellished in the Baroque style, and many rank among the most beautiful ever made. Of particular note are the famous side-panelled maps of the world and four continents, sixty devoted to Great Britain (Volume IV), the map of the environs of Frankfurt (Volume I), a fine map of China and Japan (Volume III), and a series of thirteen maps of America (Volume III) that includes early and important maps of New England and the Chesapeake Bay.

Volume I. Le Theatre du Monde, ou Nouvel Atlas Contenant Les Chartes et Descriptions de tous les Pais de la Terre Mis en Lumiere Par Guillaume et Jean Blaeu. Amsterdam, Johannem Guiljemi F. Blaeu:1645. Folio, two title pages, 120 maps (Koeman Bl 19B). The number and order of the maps is the same as in the French edition of 1638 (Koeman B1 16A), but with altered signatures and page numbers. Part I: World map, plus 83 maps of Germany, Scandinavia, the Arctic and eastern Europe, several oversized and folding. Part II: 36 maps of the Lowlands.

Volume II. Le Theatre du Monde, ou Nouvel Atlas Mis en lumiere par Guillaume & Jean Blaeu. Seconde Partie. Amsterdam, chez Jean Blaeu: 1645. Large folio, two engraved title-pages with each title printed on slip of paper, laid down, 92 maps. (Koeman B1 18C) Collation is the same as in the French edition of 1640 (Koeman B1 17), but with altered (corrected) signatures and page numbers: Part I: 48 maps of France; Part II: 14 maps of Spain and Portugal, 12 maps of Asia, 5 maps of Africa, 13 maps of America.

Volume III. Le Theatre du Monde, ou Nouvel Atlas mis en lumiere par Guillaume & Jean Blaeu. Troisieme Partie. Amsterdam, Chez Jean Blaeu: 1645. Folio, 62 maps, engraved title-page with title printed on separate slip of paper, laid down. (Koeman Bl 35F) Collation is the same as the first French edition of 1640 (Koeman Bl 35A): 58 maps of Italy and four maps of Greece. The register at the end calls for an additional four maps of Great Britain, which had been added as a supplement to the second French edition (also 1640). With the introduction in 1645 of volume IV, devoted solely to Great Britain, they were removed.

Volume IV. Guil. et Joannis Blaeu Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, sive Atlas Novus, pars quarta. Amsterdam, apud Johannem Blaeu: 1646. Folio, 60 maps, several engravings of British antiquities interspersed throughout the text, engraved title page with title printed on separate slip of paper, laid down. (Koeman B1 42B) "This edition of 1646 is identical with the former [first] edition of 1645" (Koeman Bl 42A). In point of fact, this volume contains two maps, one of Scotland, the other of Ireland, that are not called for in the index. It also varies in that the inlaid title slip is in Latin rather than in French.

Koeman Bl 19B; 18C; 35A; 42B.

#6850$240,000.00
 
 
BLAEU, Willem (1571-1638) and Jan BLAEU (1596-1673)

Le Théâtre du monde, ou nouvel atlas....quatrieme partie [Theatrum, volume IV: England and Wales]

Amsterdam: 1648. Folio (20 ¾ x 13 inches). French text, letterpress title on slip within hand-coloured engraved architectural border, heightened in gilt, 60 engraved general and county maps (59 double page) including general maps of Scotland and Ireland preceded by a printed divisional half-title (not called for in the index at end), all finely coloured by a contemporary hand, 71 illustrations (3 hand-coloured). Contemporary red morocco, paneled in gilt with fillets and decorative rolls, the inner panel with elaborate blocked cornerpieces of stylized scrolling foliage, a blocked central oval of scrolling flowers and foliage enclosing a small blank oval, the spine gilt in eight compartments with raised bands, each compartment with a central rose flower-head tool and a small flower-spray tool at each corner, green cloth ties, gilt edges, modern tan cloth box, brown morocco lettering-piece.

An unrecorded variant edition of Blaeu's atlas of England and Wales, in a magnificent contemporary red morocco binding.

The fifty-eight maps normally found in the French editions are supplemented by an appendix with a half-title and two new maps. These new maps are general maps of Scotland and Ireland, which were the first two maps completed for Blaeu's atlas of Scotland. The forthcoming publication of the Scotland atlas is announced on the half-title, but it did not appear on the market until 1654 (as volume 5 of the Theatrum). Neither Koeman nor Skelton mention a French edition with this appendix, which is normally found in the Dutch-text edition of 1647 (Koeman B145B). The ephemeral nature of this edition is confirmed by the fact that the supplement is not mentioned in the index at the end.

The present atlas is volume four of the six-volume French text edition of the Theatrum (or Théâtre du Monde). The volumes of the Theatrum were published separately from 1635 to 1655. Volume 4 was introduced with French text in 1645. In its completed form, the Theatrum was the finest and most accurate atlas yet to have been published.

Koeman I, Bl-42 C (not calling for the extra maps of Scotland or Ireland present here); Skelton 43.

#2590$45,000.00
 
 
BLAEU, Willem (1571-1638) & Jan BLAEU (1596-1673)

Le Théâtre du monde, ou nouvel atlas....quatrieme partie [Theatrum, volume IV: England and Wales]

Amsterdam: 1646. Folio (20 x 13 3/8 inches). Mounted on guards throughout. French text, letterpress title on slip within hand-coloured engraved architectural border, heightened in gilt, 60 engraved general and county maps (59 double-page) including general maps of Scotland and Ireland preceded by a printed divisional half-title (not called for in the index at end), all finely coloured by a contemporary hand, 71 illustrations, (3 hand-coloured.) (L1 browned at inner margin, some light marginal damp-staining). Publisher's vellum gilt with yapp fore-edges, covers paneled with stylized foliage roll, and large central and corner arabesques, spine in eight compartments with repeat tooling in gilt, gilt edges (ties lacking as usual. covers scuffed), modern black morocco-backed cloth box, "spine" gilt.

An unrecorded variant edition of Blaeu's atlas of England and Wales. Not in Koeman; not in Skelton

The fifty-eight maps normally found in the French editions are supplemented by an appendix with a half-title and two new maps. These new maps are general maps of Scotland and Ireland, which were the first two maps completed for Blaeu's atlas of Scotland. The forthcoming publication of the Scotland atlas is announced on the half-title, but it did not appear on the market until 1654 (as volume 5 of the Theatrum ). Neither Koeman nor Skelton mention a French edition with this appendix, which is normally found in the Dutch-text edition of 1647 (Koeman B145B). The ephemeral nature of this edition is confirmed by the fact that the supplement is not mentioned in the index at the end.

The present atlas is volume four of the six-volume French text edition of the Theatrum (or Théâtre du Monde). The volumes of the Theatrum were published separately from 1635 to 1655. Volume 4 was introduced with French text in 1645. In its completed form, the Theatrum was the finest and most accurate atlas yet to have been published. The Atlas of England and Wales consists of a series of lavishly ornamented maps, including a separate map for each county of England and Wales.

Cf.Koeman Bl-42 B; Skelton 43. (Neither calling for the Scotland and Ireland maps)

#5869$32,500.00
 
 
BORDONE, Benedetto (d.1531)

Isolario di Benedetto Bordone Nel qual si ragiona di tutte l'Isole del mondo, con li lor nomi antichi & moderni, historie, favole, & modi del loro vivere, & in qual parte del mare stanno, & in qual parallelo & clima giaciono. Con la gionta del Monte del Oro novamente ritrovato

Venice: Nicolò d'Aristotile detto Zoppino, 1534. Small folio (11 1/2 x 8 inches). Letterpress title in red and black with ornamental woodcut border, woodcut initials. 1 full-page diagram of a world map and windroses, 4 woodcut double-page or folding maps of the World, Venice, the Eastern Mediterranean and the Venetian Archipelago, 4 smaller double-page maps of Sicily, Crete, Cyprus and Euboea, 103 woodcut maps and plans scattered through the text. With an early manuscript inscription in Italian on a small piece of paper tipped to the inner margin of D1. Expertly bound to style in contemporary vellum.

Early edition of this important geographical compendium with important New World maps and the earliest description in book form of Pizarro's conquest of Peru.

The author Bordone, born in Padua, worked in Venice as a geographer, cartographer, illuminator and wood-engraver. It is believed that he was the creator of the first globe printed in Italy. First published by Nicolò d'Aristotile detto Zoppino in 1528 under the title Libro di Benedetto Bordone nel qual si ragiona de tutte l'isole del mondo, the present work, the second edition overall, marks the first appearance of the new title. The publisher re-used the same wood-blocks for the maps. An Aldine edition with the same title but different woodblocks followed in 1547.

This work offers an illustrated guide to islands and peninsulas of the western ocean, the Mediterranean, the Indian Ocean and the Far East. As a cartographic form, Bordone's Isolario derives from two manuscript prototypes, Buondelmonti's Liber insularum Archipelagi of 1420 and Da Li Sonetti's Isolario of about 1485, whose maps were also drawn with eight windrays to establish orientation. Ptolemy's Geographia and nautical charts of the period are another source.

This work is notable for its wide scope, spreading beyond the European/Western bounds of the well-known into the newly-discovered areas in the Americas. In addition to text which includes the first mention in book form of Pizarro's triumph, the maps of the area are also particularly important. These include a plan of the city of Mexico ("Temistitan"), showing it before its conquest by Cortes. The "Terra de Lavoratore" map on the verso of leaf VI contains what is considered the first printed map of continental North America. The verso of leaf XII contains a map of Hispaniola, and the following leaf bears a map of Jamaica on the recto and of Cuba on the verso. Other Caribbean islands depicted by maps include Guadeloupe, Dominica, and Martinique.

Also of importance are the four double-page/folding maps: the World (one of the earliest oval projection world maps); Europe and north Africa; the eastern Mediterranean; and Venice and the surrounding lagoon. This work also includes one of the earliest European representations of Japan. The remaining majority of the maps illustrate islands in the Eastern Mediterranean.

BM Italian p.120; Borba de Moraes I, p.112; Brunet I, 112; European Americana 534/2; Harrisse Bav 187; JCB (3) 1:112; cf. Mortimer Italian 82; Phillips Atlases 162; Sabin 6419; R.A.Skelton Introduction to Libro... de Tutte L'Isole Del Mondo (Amsterdam: Theatrum Orbis Terrarum Ltd, 1966).

#23568$32,000.00
 
 
BRADFORD, Thomas Gamaliel (1802-1887)

A Comprehensive Atlas geographical, historical & commercial

Boston, New York & Philadelphia: William D. Ticknor in Boston, Wiley & Long in New York and T.T. Ash in Philadelphia, 1835. Folio (19 3/8 x 16 inches). Small format 'Note to Subscribers' pasted to verso of 'Advertisement' leaf. Engraved title with decorative surround, hand-coloured engraved frontispiece, 8 engraved comparative charts (3 hand-coloured), 2 uncoloured plates, 66 hand-coloured engraved maps and composite town-plans (63 maps, 3 composite plates of multiple town-plans). (Foxing and offsetting, repaired tears to two maps). Contemporary green half morocco over marbled paper-covered boards, spine gilt, marbled endpapers (hinges split and crudely repaired with tape).

The first edition, first issue, of "one of the first American general atlases to supplement the maps with lengthy geographical descriptions" (Ristow).

Although the rest of the world is mapped and described, Bradford concentrates largely on the Americas and includes a general map of North America, a general map of the United States, with 24 maps and plans in the 'North America' section, and a further 5 in the 'South America' section. Unlike many atlases of the period, the present work includes extensive text. Each engraving is accompanied by explanatory articles on the history, economics and geography of the area, as well as a great deal of contemporary statistical information.

Cf. Martin & Martin 31; Phillips Atlases 770; Ristow 271; Rumsey 3467; 2643; Sabin 7260

#24230$2,500.00
 
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