Decorative map of Ireland by Nicolaes Visscher (1649-1702). Impressive title cartouche with Pan and the Gaelic harp. Highly decorative scale of miles references William III, king of England, Scotland and Ireland 1689-1702. Visscher created this map shortly after William Petty's exhaustive survey of Ireland (the Down Survey) was published. Amsterdam. 52 x 62cm.
Map by Justus Danckerts (1635-1701) covers the Danube River from Germany to the Black Sea. Depicts all of the Balkans, Hungary, Romania and parts of Austria, Italy and Germany. The map was apparently printed at the height of the Ottoman wars against the European powers in the late seventeenth century. A table in the lower left depicts the names of cities in the Hungarian kingdom that were lost to the Ottomans and when they were recovered to date. The latest date on the table is 1687. However, according to the table, the recapture of Buda (Budapest) took place in 1686 but an examination of Buda on the map reveals a date of 1688. Other known examples of this map include the recovery of Belgrade (Belgrado) in 1688 in the table although this version of the map does not. It is possible this map was printed immediately before the Siege of Belgrade in 1688 or after 1690 when the city was reclaimed by the Turks (and the subsequent reference to Belgrado in the table may have been expunged). Title cartouche depicts a Christian saint and the Hapsburg eagle. Amsterdam. 52 x 62cm.
Map of Asia by Gerrit Van Schagen (1642-1690) showing the north coast of Australia and part of the Gulf of Carpentaria. Title cartouche on lower left shows Tritons, sea nymphs and Nereids. On upper left costumed natives are shown with a palm tree, monkey and beaver. 52 x 62cm.
Map of central Europe by Justus Danckerts (1635-1701). Map extends from France in the west to Poland in the east and from Croatia and Italy in the south to the Netherlands in the north. The Hapsburg eagle holds the title banner in the upper left cartouche. Amsterdam. 52 x 62cm.
Map of central Italy by Frederick de Wit (1630-1706) showing the grand duchy of Tuscany and the papal states. Title cartouche is decorated with the ball-motif shield of the Medici family; the papal states are represented by the Keys of St. Peter on a shield. Detail on the map includes a road that extends from Rimina on the Gulf of Venetia to Piacenza in the northeast. Amsterdam. 52 x 62cm.
Map of France by Justus Danckerts (1635-1701) includes Belgium and Luxembourg and parts of Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany and England. Title cartouche depicts a Roman soldier and other allegorical figures. Amsterdam. 52 x 62cm.
The map by Gerritt Van Schagen (1642-1690) captures the European misconceptions of Africa typical of the late seventeenth century. The Nile appears to be rising from the three lakes of Zaire, Zembre and Zafflan. The prime meridian, the zero-degree longitude line, is plotted through the Canary Islands which to the ancients was the western edge of the inhabited world. The interior is decorated with monkeys, elephants, lions, rhinoceroses, leopard and ostriches. The sea is decorated with ships, whales and flying fish. The title cartouche in the upper left right is surrounded by two Africans, one holding a scorpion and the other a cornucopia with sea sprites at their feet. The elaborate decoration at the lower left is Neptune surrounded by his wife, Amphitrite, and their sons, the Tritons, along with Nereids, the sea nymphs. 52 x 62cm.
Very elaborate map of the Seventeen Provinces of the Low Countries by Gerrit Van Schagen (1642-1690). North oriented to the right. Figures in title cartouche in upper right include Athena and Pheme. Elaborate explanatory key at upper left. Dangling from the key cartouche is the family crest of Johan Munter, a Dutch East India Company director and burgomaster of Amsterdam. His importance in Amsterdam is evident in the text below the key. 52 x 62cm.
