According to Shirley, this Mercator projection world map was first published in the ‘Neuwe Archontologia Cosmica’ by J. L. Gottfried in 1638. It is derived from the Willem Blaeu wall map of the period although devoid of its panels. The east coasst of North America is rather dated for the period and none of the Great Lakes are showing. The map shows an elongated northwest coastline to North America with a Strait of Anian between Asia and America. Tierra del Fuego is illustrated to the south of which is a large southern land mass is named ‘Magellanica’. The mythical ‘Beach’ is found in Asia, often conflated with Australia. Korea is depicted as an island whilst the East Indies are squeezed rather close. Two hemispherical insets in the lower corners represent the two polar regions.

Mattheus Merian (1593-1650). Merian was a leading German illustrator of the 17th century. Born in Basel in 1593, he learned the art of copperplate engraving in Zurich and subsequently worked and studied in Strasbourg, Nancy, Paris, and the Low Countries. In 1618 he went to Frankfurt, where, in 1618, he married the eldest daughter of Johann Theodor de Bry, publisher and engraver and son of Theodore de Bry. After de Bry died in 1623, he took over his business. De Bry’s business remained in Merian’s family until 1726 when a fire destroyed it. Provenance: Barry Lawrence Ruderman; private collection of Juan and Peggy Rada. Shirley (1993) 345; Shirley (2004) G.Gott 1a.1.