Sign In

- Or use -
Forgot Password Create Account
This item has been sold, but you can enter your email address to be notified if another example becomes available.
Description

A fine full color example of Merian's double hemisphere map of the World, showing California as and island and a large unknown southern continent. Includes symbols for the sun, moon and the four elements, along with Hebrew letters in the center. The map was included in Merian's German edition of Tommaso Garzoni's Piazza Universale, first issued in Venice in 1585. This is the only edition to include Merian's map, which Shirley rates as Uncommon (Shirley 356A). A fine full color example.

Matthaus Merian Biography

Mathaus Merian (1593-1650) was the father of engraver Matthäus the Younger, and of the painter, engraver, and naturalist Maria Sibylla Merian. He was born in Basel, Switzerland and trained in engraving in Zurich. After a time in Nancy, Paris and Strasbourg, he settled in Frankfurt. While there, he worked for Johann Theodor de Bry, the publisher and son of the travel writer. In 1617, he married Maria Magdalena de Bry, Johann Theodor’s daughter. In 1623, Merian took over the de Bry publishing house upon the death of his father-in-law. Merian’s best known works are detailed town views which, due to their accuracy and artistry, form a valuable record of European urban life in the first half of the sixteenth century