Item number: WOR403
Genuine Antique Map
c. 1705
Maker: Henri Abraham Chatelain
Fascinating antique map of the world published by Chatelain circa 1705. This is a rare early example that was published without the later embellishments. The map celebrates the accomplishments of the Dutch East & West India Companies. It offers many interesting features to the observant viewer, including California as an island, a large southern continent (some posited there must be a large landmass at the south pole to balance the amount of land in the northern and southern hemispheres), much still unknown about Australia, New Zealand, and Alaska, etc. This map shows the routes of famous navigators who had traveled the world, as well as the route to the East Indies used by the Dutch East India Company.
Henri Abraham Chatelain (1684 - 1743) was a Huguenot pastor of Parisian origins. He lived consecutively in Paris, St Martins, London (c 1710), The Hague (c 1721), and Amsterdam (c 1728). He is best known as a Dutch cartographer and more specifically for his cartographic contribution in the seminal seven volume Atlas Historique published in Amsterdam between 1705 and 1720. Innovative for its time, the Atlas Historique combined fine engraving and artwork with scholarly studies of geography, history, ethnology, heraldry, and cosmography. Some scholarship suggests that the Atlas Historique was not exclusively compiled by Henri Chatelain. Very good overall antique condition for it's age, paper is toned, tight margins and lacking a neatline, some small spots and minor stains, folds as issued, some tiny holes at the fold intersections. Map measures approximately 14 x 18 inches.
Item Number: WOR403