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Description

Early Decorative French Cartography -- a Carte-a-Figures set of the 4 continents published in Paris

Fine set of paneled maps of the 4 continents from Piere D'Avity's Les Etats, Empires Royaumes…du Monde, published in Paris in 1659.

The maps are based upon a set of the 4 continents first issued separately by Hondius in 1618, as modified by Picart in 1644.

The maps illustrate in the classic carte-a-figures style the costumes of the major indigenous peoples of the 4 continents and small views of the major cities.

Three of the four maps include blank dedicatory cartouches, suggesting that D'Avity had anticipated finding a patron for the maps, which and not yet materialized.

Rarity

Complete sets of the 4 continents are scarce on the market. This is the first time we have offered a complete set.

Reference
Burden #333.
Jodocus Hondius Biography

Jodocus Hondius the Elder (1563-1612), or Joost de Hondt, was one of the most prominent geographers and engravers of his time. His work did much to establish Amsterdam as the center of cartographic publishing in the seventeenth century. Born in Wakken but raised in Ghent, the young Jodocus worked as an engraver, instrument maker, and globe maker.

Hondius moved to London in 1584, fleeing religious persecution in Flanders. There, he worked for Richard Hakluyt and Edward Wright, among others. Hondius also engraved the globe gores for Emery Molyneux’s pair of globes in 1592; Wright plotted the coastlines. His engraving and nautical painting skills introduced him to an elite group of geographic knowledge seekers and producers, including the navigators Drake, Thomas Cavendish, and Walter Raleigh, as well as engravers like Theodor De Bry and Augustine Ryther. This network gave Hondius access to manuscript charts and descriptions which he then translated into engraved maps.

In 1593 Hondius returned to Amsterdam, where he lived for the rest of his life. Hondius worked in partnership with Cornelis Claesz, a publisher, and maintained his ties to contacts in Europe and England. For example, from 1605 to 1610, Hondius engraved the plates for John Speed’s Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine.

One of Hondius’ most successful commercial ventures was the reprinting of Mercator’s atlas. When he acquired the Mercator plates, he added 36 maps, many engraved by him, and released the atlas under Mercator’s name, helping to solidify Mercator’s reputation posthumously. Hondius died in 1612, at only 48 years of age, after which time his son of the same name and another son, Henricus, took over the business, including the reissuing of the Mercator atlas. After 1633, Hondius the Elder’s son-in-law, Johannes Janssonius, was also listed as a co-publisher for the atlas.