This map is a Dutch/French co-operation. Although it is mostly based on a map of the world by Jodocus Hondius II issued in 1617, the presence of the Le Maire Strait east of Cape Horn first reported in 1619 suggests some revision to its geography. On the 1617 source map, a medallion on the lower right also cites Henry Briggs and Edward Wright as two sources for its geography. Jodocus Hondius I and Wright were known to have worked together when the former was living in London and it is certainly not beyond the bounds of possibility he may also have met Briggs, another contemporary mathematician, professor and intellectual. This in turn may have either provided access or written sources for Jodocus Hondius II to use on this map.



There are multiple points of geographical interest, mainly confined to the New World. The map of South America is drawn along the Hondius model which was first issued in their atlas in 1606, based on the map of Jodocus Hondius senior. North America is an interesting amalgam of sources. The distinctive shape of the south eastern United States, Florida and the Gulf coast is based on the map of 1617, which itself portrays those regions in a very similar manner to Willem Blaeu's map of the world issued in 1606, which is derived from Blaeu's wall map of 1605. It is believed that Blaeu also based much of his geography on Jodocus Hondius senior's wall map of c.1604.



One geographical area which does show substantial updates on the 1617 map in comparison to Blaeu's map of 1606 is the east coast of Canada and the location and course of the River St. Lawrence; in turn this was transposed onto Mariette's map. This may be why Briggs is cited as a source. He was known as a passionate proponent of the search for the Northwest Passage and an avid follower of the geographical development of this region. There are multiple printed annotations in the area, chronicling the discoveries of John Davis, Martin Frobisher together with a primitive rendering of Hudson's Bay and a note about Henry Hudson's progress on his voyage of 1612.



The notable addition of the St. Lawrence River is a result of preliminary reports by Samuel de Champlain's exploration circulating in Paris either before or just after he returned in 1620, although much of the exploration was done earlier and reports may have arrived previously. The result is a St. Lawrence River which rises in a mountain range to the far west and winds its way through most of North America before emptying into the eastern Atlantic. This depiction of the river went through several incarnations including on an influential map by Visscher in 1639 and its following issues. Curiously neither John Speed on his map of 1627 nor Henricus Hondius on his map of 1630 indicate the course of the river.



Aesthetically, the map is far more subdued than its 1617 parent. Mariette has chosen to emulate the cartouche on the lower left showing two New World figures holding a medallion. He then foregoes the elaborate border decoration present on the Hondius map and instead concentrates on scientific diagrams such as a compass rose, a perpetual calendar beginning in 1637, a diagram of the heavens and a wind rose. He again emulates the Hondius map by including two celestial spheres on the upper and lower centre.



This map must have been popular as variations were also issued by two other major Paris publishers, Boisseau and Le Clerc. Mariette issued two states of this map, in 1642 and 1646.


The example offered for sale here is the first state. [Shirley 358] [WLD2889]