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Description

Striking example of Quad's map of North America, based upon De Jode's landmark map of 1593.

Jode's map is one of the earliest maps to concentrate on North America alone. For his map, De Jode condensed information for the map from Dutch wall maps of the late 16th Century De Jode was the first to make use of both John White and Jacques le Moyne's east coast cartography, although he inaccurately placed it. Quad here continues the mistake of placing the nomenclature of Virginia too far north. A long narrow waterway to the north represents the North West Passage; Lago de Conibas is also indicated. Some names have been surprisingly left out, notably Bermuda, St. Augustine, Roanoke and Chesapeake. A curious 'second' peninsula is shown to the west of Florida which could be an early depiction of the Mississippi delta.

The descriptive text below provides a brief overview of the history of North America to date. The projection of California and the West is packed full of annotations and place names. The headwaters of the St. Lawrence extend to Cibola in the mythical Southwest.

A cornerstone collector's map of North America.

Reference
Burden 133; Cumming 24.
Matthias Quad Biography

Matthias Quad (1557-1613), a map publisher based in Cologne, was trained in the Netherlands by Johannes van Doetecum, who also worked with the De Jodes. Quad used many De Jode maps as a base to which he added additional information and decorations. Quad was best known for his atlases, which were part of the first boom in atlases best characterized by Abraham Ortelius’ Theatrum Orbis Terrarum. In 1592, Quad released an atlas of Europe that had 38 maps. He expanded it in 1594 to 50 maps. In 1600, he expanded the collection of maps further still, this time to 82 maps, and called the atlas, Geographisch Handtbuch. All three were small in size, allowing them to compete as cheaper alternatives to the larger atlases of Ortelius, Mercator, and the De Jodes. Quad released one other atlas, in 1608, with 86 maps, the Fascilus Geographicus.