| Jodocus Hondius | |
| Amsterdam, (1606) 1628 or 1633 Hondius' Prester John Map: Abissinorum Sive Pretiofi Joannis Imperiu. Original
copperplate engraved map
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This is the Hondius’ version of the Prester John map of east and central Africa, showing the Kingdom of Abyssinia and the Kingdom of The Congo. Much has been written about the Prestor John maps. The myth of Prester John, the good king defeating the enemies of Christianity, was in part a response to Mongol and Islamic pressures on Christian Europe. Initially, Prester John was placed in Asia but later in East Africa. Much of the information for this map is based on the Portuguese discoveries. The map contains an inset map of the Congo River region at the upper left. Information for this inset map was obtained from the travels of a Portuguese explorer, Duarte Lopes. Lopes explored throughout the Kingdom of Congo and recorded detailed information on his travels from 1578 to 1584. The results of these travels was obtained by Filippo Pigafetta, who wrote a book entitled Relatione del reame del Congo et delle circonvicine... published in Rome by Bartolomeo Grassi in 1591. Jodocus Hondius (1563-1612) was the founder of the famous 17th century Dutch map publishing family. Hondius, along with sons Jodocus II and Henricus and son-in-law Jan Janssonius, was prominent in Dutch cartography and competed with the emerging Blaeu family map business. When Jodocus Hondius acquired the copperplates of the Mercator atlas and decided to re-issue them in 1606, he prepared this map for inclusion in his Atlas sive Cosmographicae...... , or Mercator-Hondius atlas as it is commonly called. This map is from an edition of his atlas of 1628 or 1633. This map has French text describing Abyssinia on the verso with p. 633-636 and "Xxxxxxx" that indicates a date for this map of 1628 or 1633, based on vd Krogt (p. 713). This map last appeared in a French edition of the Mercator-Hondius atlas of 1639-44, when it was replaced by a map by Johnannes Janssonius, which was similar in appearance to the Blaeu map of the same region. References: Van der Krogt, Peter. Koeman's Atlantes Neerlandici, vol. 1. 't Goy-Houten: HES Publishers,1997. Fine Condition. Clean, strong map
impression. Marginal separation within right margin, and
bottom centerfold separation within margin, both expertly repaired on verso.
Complete map margins. |
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