America Meridionalis, Early Map of South America by Gerard Mercator and Jodocus Hondius, 1610, Original Hand Colored Copperplate Engraving

Sheet: 43 x 53 cm
Frame: 55 x 68 cm
Fine original hand colored copperplate engraving .
This card is an original from the period described and NOT a reprint.
The authenticity will be confirmed in writing!
Good condition for its age, browned (see pic.).
Highly sought map of South America, engraved by Joducus Hondius. One of the earliest obtainable decorative maps of the South American continent. The Strait of Magellan is shown, but Tierra Del Fuego is part of the large southern continent. Eastern Brazil is depicted as an island, made insular by a huge Rio de la Plata that extends from the Atlantic in the south to a large lake, Eupana Lacus. from this lake, the Rio Grande flows further northward into the Amazon river and from there into the Atlantic. Interesting inset depicts Cusco, the Capital of Peru and center of the Inca empire. 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 s 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. This piece has an attribution mark,
I am sure that it is completely authentic and take full responsibility for any authenticity
issues arising from misattribution