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Description

Rare English text edition of Jansson's highly influential map of the East Coast of North America, from the Carolinas to Nova Scotia.

Jansson based his map upon Johannes De Laet's map of 1630 (created and engraved by Hessel Gerritsz of the Dutch East India Company), which is generally regarded as the source map for New England and the Northeast, being the first to name in any form Manhattan, New Amsterdam, the North River (Hudson) and South River (Delaware), along with the first appearance of Massachusetts (and the recently established English Colony therein). De Laet's map appeared in his seminal work on America, which is widely regarded as the most important and influential treatise on the subject published in the 17th Century. The two maps provided the best representation to date of the coastline, and are among the earliest printed maps to document English settlement in New England and Dutch settlement along the Hudson River. The map is also noteworthy in that it is the first English translation of De Laet's text on New England, and the only contemporary translation published, adding to the significance of its importance as a source map for current information on the region.

One curious feature of the map is Jansson's failure to include the updated cartography provided by Champlain's map, a fascinating nationalistic slight (Blaeu also ignored Champlain's work in his map of New England). This is also an early map to identify any part of the Great Lakes, with Grand Lac (Karpinski believed the lake to be Lake Huron, while Burden states that it is Lake Huron) and Lac des Yroquois (Ontario or Erie) depicted. In New England, the name Massachusetts is used for only the third time, after de Laet's map and William Wood's rare map of the Massachusetts Bay region. The only European settlement shown in New England is Plymouth, established in 1620. Bristow is derived from John Smith's famous 1614 map of New England. Further south shows the Dutch settlements of New Amsterdam (New York City) and Fort Orange (Albany).

State 1 of 2, the second with a revised title and other significant changes.

Condition Description
A bit of soiling and toning, and some minor reinforcement along the lower part of the centerfold.
Reference
Burden, #247; McCorkle, #636.1.
Jan Jansson Biography

Jan Janssonius (also known as Johann or Jan Jansson or Janszoon) (1588-1664) was a renowned geographer and publisher of the seventeenth century, when the Dutch dominated map publishing in Europe. Born in Arnhem, Jan was first exposed to the trade via his father, who was also a bookseller and publisher. In 1612, Jan married the daughter of Jodocus Hondius, who was also a prominent mapmaker and seller. Jonssonius’ first maps date from 1616.

In the 1630s, Janssonius worked with his brother-in-law, Henricus Hondius. Their most successful venture was to reissue the Mercator-Hondius atlas. Jodocus Hondius had acquired the plates to the Mercator atlas, first published in 1595, and added 36 additional maps. After Hondius died in 1612, Henricus took over publication; Janssonius joined the venture in 1633. Eventually, the atlas was renamed the Atlas Novus and then the Atlas Major, by which time it had expanded to eleven volumes. Janssonius is also well known for his volume of English county maps, published in 1646.

Janssonius died in Amsterdam in 1664. His son-in-law, Johannes van Waesbergen, took over his business. Eventually, many of Janssonius’ plates were sold to Gerard Valck and Pieter Schenk, who added their names and continued to reissue the maps.