Important Watches

Vacheron Constantin Mercator, Reference 43050 A yellow gold retrograde wristwatch with the map of the Americas, Circa 1995 Dial: yellow gold depicting the map of the Americas Calibre: cal. 1120/2 automatic, 36 jewels Movement number: 797'944 Case: 18k yellow gold, snap on sapphire crystal display back Case number: 656'851 Closure: brown Vacheron Constantin alligator strap and 18k yellow gold double folding clasp Size: 36 mm diameter Signed: case, dial and movement Accessories: none The Vacheron Constantin Mercator collection pays tribute to the renowned 16th-century cartographer Gerardus Mercator, whose pioneering work transformed the science of mapmaking. Best known for the Mercator projection, he developed a method of representing the globe on a flat surface using a network of latitude and longitude lines, a breakthrough that greatly improved navigation and geographic understanding. Further enriching the collection’s historical significance, the case design of the present watch takes inspiration from Vacheron Constantin’s iconic 1940's Geographique model. Its dial features a detailed rendition of Mercator’s map of the Americas, combining artistic craftsmanship with a celebration of exploration and discovery. Paired with the collection’s distinctive retrograde display, the watch exemplifies Vacheron Constantin’s ability to unite historical heritage, technical ingenuity, and aesthetic refinement. The result is a sophisticated timepiece that is as intellectually engaging as it is elegant and wearable.

View 1 of Lot 2282: Mercator, Reference 43050 | A yellow gold retrograde wristwatch with the map of the Americas, Circa 1995

mercator, reference 43050 | a yellow gold retrograde wristwatch with the map of the americas, circa 1995

A very important <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/maps-&amp;-botanicals" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">map</a> of Greece and western Turkey, compiled by Salamanca from Nikolaos Sophianos's landmark eight-sheet map of Greece of 1540, the most geographically accurate map of the region yet produced.<ul><li>Francesco Salamanca (Italian).</li><li>Graeciae chorographia.</li><li>Rome: circa 1558.</li><li>This work is presented unframed.</li></ul> This is the earliest available version, as the original has been lost and a woodcut version published in Basel in 1544 and 1545 are known by single complete examples of each. Francesco Salamanca worked with his father Antonio Salamanca, who worked in partnership with Antonio Lafreri from 1553 until his death in 1562. Francesco continued to work with Lafreri until the following year. This map seems to have been retained by Lafreri as the second state was issued by his successor, Claudio Duchetti.

Italian Map of Greece | First State

A 17th century prospect of Lisbon.<ul><li>Gerard Jollain (French).</li><li>Lisbone.</li><li>Paris: circa 1650. </li><li>Colored.</li><li>This work is presented unframed.</li></ul> A French prospect of Lisbon from the Tagus, with the landmarks named in the plate and the foreground filled with the merchant ships that gave the city its wealth. Underneath is a short description in Latin and French.

French Map Of Lisbon

A rare "carte à figures" map of France in fine original color.<ul><li>Pieter van den Keere (Dutch).</li><li>Amsterdam: Jan Jansson, c. 1630.</li><li>Borders containing 14 city prospects and eight costume vignettes.</li><li>Large title cartouche and a compass rose.</li></ul> The plate was engraved by Pieter van den Keere and first published as a separate issue map. However Jansson acquired the plate, re-engraved the figures and issued it in his 1630 "Appendix."

Dutch Altas Map of France

A Belgian <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/maps-&amp;-botanicals?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">map</a> of the Middle East by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/_gerard-de-jode-de-jodes-rare-cordiform-world-map-1578-8ddb" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Gerard De Jode</a>.<ul><li>Gerard De Jode (Dutch).</li><li>Secundae Partis Asiae typus..</li><li>Antwerp: Arnold Coninx for the widow and heirs of Gerard de Jode, 1593.</li><li>Hand color.</li><li>This work is presented unframed.</li></ul> A very fine example of this rare 16th century map of south west Asia, covering mainly Arabia, southern Persia, and the west coast of India &amp; Maldives, and including Egypt &amp; the Nile. Although the map was engraved circa 1566-1570, publication of De Jode's atlas, the Speculum Orbis Terrarum, was held back until 1578 by Ortelius's patent. Some of the most famous names in cartography of this period appear on this map: De Jode was the great rival of Ortelius, with whom he had a long-running feud; Gastaldi, De Jode's source, is best known for his maps in 'Lafreri-type' atlases; and Lucas &amp; Jan van Doeticum, the engravers, are renowned for the flair of their work for Waghenaer, Linschoten and Ortelius. Neither edition of the Speculum atlas sold well, as Ortelius's Theatrum already dominated the market. This second edition was to be the last: after 1600 the plates were bought by Jan Baptiste Vrients, who also acquired the Ortelius rights, to ensure De Jode's maps were never printed again. Thus all editions of the De Jode maps are scarce.

Belgian Map of the Middle East

The first <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=maps&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">map</a> of the Arabian Peninsula to use geological surveys, and the basis of all modern maps of Arabia, by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Glen+Francis+Brown&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Glen Francis Brown</a>.<ul><li>Glen Francis Brown (American).</li><li>[Arabian Peninsula prepared by the U.S. Geological Survey and the Arabian American Oil Company under the joint sponsorship of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Ministry of Finance and National Economy, and the U.S. Department of State].</li><li>Washington D.C.: The Survey [U.S. Geological Survey], 1958.</li><li>First edition.</li><li>Large chromolithographed map.</li><li>Text in Arabic.</li><li>Backed in cloth.</li><li>Scale 1:2,000,000.&nbsp;</li><li>This work is presented unframed.</li></ul>&nbsp;The first edition of the Arabic issue of this large-scale chromolithographed map of the Arabian Peninsula, the first to use geological surveys in its preparation and the map on which all modern maps of Arabia are based. Prepared by the U.S. Geological Survey for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Arabian-American Oil Company (Aramco), also capturing in detail the modern-day territories of Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Oman, and Yemen. The map is the result of a decade-long collaboration between the United States Geological Survey (USGS), who had been approached by King ‘Abd al-’Aziz in 1944 for technical assistance in plotting the region’s natural resources, the Saudi government, and Aramco.&nbsp; Brown (1911-2001), who had expertise conducting groundwater surveys in Mississippi and Colorado, was selected to lead the project, arriving in ‘Saudi Arabia early in 1945... His report on the results of [the] investigation [into water supplies in the Al-Kharj desert] was very enthusiastically received by Saudi officials... [and he returned at the King’s request] to conduct reconnaissance geologic mapping, mineral evaluation, and water-resource studies in the western and central parts of the kingdom. The mapping was carried forward from 1950 to 1958 by [Brown] with USGS and Saudi associates and extended to the entire Arabian Peninsula in cooperation with the Arabian American Oil Company’ (Geological Society of America). The result was a comprehensive series of geological and geographic surveys, the first of their type in the Arabian Peninsular, which were published in both Arabic and English language issues. These maps, together with reports on the geology, mineral deposits, and available water resources, continue to provide the basis for major national resource exploration and development in the region.

Map of the Arabian Peninsula | First to use Geological Surveys, and the Basis of All Modern Maps of Arabia

A pictorial gastronomic map of Italy, by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Vsevolode+Nicouline&amp;pfilters.dateRange=past" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Vsevolode Nicouline</a>.<ul><li>Vsevolode Nicouline (Russian-Italian, 1890-1968).</li><li>Carta Gastronomica del Bel Paese.&nbsp;</li><li>Milano: ITALGEO., Soc. Cartografica G. De Agostini 1949.</li><li>Lithograph poster.</li><li>Linen backed.</li><li>This work is presented framed and glazed.</li></ul>&nbsp;This pictorial map is a colorful and detailed depiction of Italy, highlighting regional foods and beverages, celebrating the gastronomic delights of the country and surrounding islands. The title "Carta Gastronomica de Bel Paese" is prominently displayed in an ornate cartouche of fruits and vegetables surrounding a compass rose.&nbsp; This is example is particularly scarce in that it contains “Chianti I.L. Ruffino” Pontassieve - Firenze at the bottom of the map. Vsevolode Nicouline (Vsevolod Petrovič Nikulin, (1890 - 1968) was a Russian-born Italian artist, illustrator, and set designer. Born in Mykolaiv, Russian Empire (now Ukraine) to an Orthodox priest, he attended the Odessa Art College (now the Grekov Odessa Art School), where he studied with Italian sculptors Luigi Iorini and Giuseppe Mormone, before enrolling at the Imperial Academy of Arts in 1917. The Russian Revolution derailed Nicouline's studies, and he became an officer in the White Russian forces. As the Bolsheviks gained the upper hand, he fled to Constantinople and then to Genoa. His works included the fine pictorial maps of Italy and its regions first published as Imago Ialiae in 1941. Please note: This item is excluded from complimentary shipping. Shipping quote will be calculated following purchase.

Gastronomic Map of Italy Poster

A British <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/maps-&amp;-botanicals?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">map</a> of the Holy Land by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=philip+lea&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Philip Lea</a>.<ul><li>Philip Lea (English).</li><li>A Map of Canaan With the Adjacent Countries Very Usefull for the Understanding of the Old Testament. Sold by .P. Lea, at the Atlas and Hercules in Cheap-side, and in Westminster-hall.</li><li>&nbsp;London: 1692.</li><li>Original outline color.</li><li>This work is presented unframed.</li></ul> A rare map of the Holy Land in Old Testament times, but extending to Rome, Alexandria, the Caspian Sea and Arabia, all extremely abridged. The route of the Exodus from Egypt is marked, and the cities of Sodom, Gomorah, Zeboim and Admiah are depicted in flames in the Dead Sea. This is an extremely rare map, not listed in the Laor Collection, probably published for a bible rather than an atlas. Philip Lea began business in 1683 and had premises in Westminster Hall between 1689 and 1695.

English Map of the Holy Land

A colored 18th century German town plan of Paris.<ul><li>Friedrich Bernhard Werner (German).</li><li>Augsburg: Heirs of Jeremias Wolf (ie. Probst), circa 1730.</li><li>Two sheets conjoined.</li><li>Text in French.</li><li>This work is presented unframed.</li></ul> A large-scale panoramic view of Paris by Friedrich Bernhard Werner. With a 50-point key underneath identifying important sites and buildings.

German Map Of Paris

A wall <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/maps-&amp;-botanicals?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">map</a> of Iberia by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Nicolas+De+Fer&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Nicolas De Fer</a>, published soon after the accession of Philippe V to the throne of Spain in 1700.<ul><li>Nicolas De Fer (French).</li><li>Espagne Triomphante sous le Regne de Philippe V.</li><li>Bottom left is a plan of Madrid; bottom right is a view of the Escurial Palace.</li><li>Colored.</li><li>Four sheets conjoined.</li><li>This work is presented unframed.</li></ul> The accession of Philippe V to the throne of Spain gave the French reason to celebrate as Philippe was grandson of the French king Louis XIV (the 'Sun King'), meaning a closer connection between the two thrones. In the huge ornamental border are medallion portraits of Philippe and his wife, Marie Louise of Savoy, and 81 medallion portraits going back to the Visgoth king Athaulf (410-5). Not all of Europe was as happy as France to have Bourbon kings on the throne of both Spain and France, and soon the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-14) broke out, with Charles of Austria being the rival claimant. During the war Spain lost both Gibraltar and Minorca to Britain.

French Map of Spain | Early Spanish Succession

A 17th century colored, paneled map of the Holy Land.<ul><li>Jan Jansson (Dutch).</li><li>Palestina sive Terrae Sanctae Descriptio.</li><li>Amsterdam: Jan Jansson van Waesberge, c.1677.</li><li>This work is presented unframed.</li></ul> An example of one of the most decorative maps of the Holy Land, based on Adrichom and orientated with north to the left, with 18 inset scenes from Genesis, Exodus &amp; Numbers, and a nineteenth depicting Jesus approaching Jerusalem on the donkey. This map did not appear in many atlases, supplanted by Henricus Hondius's less decorative but more contemporary map. As this example has no text it is likely to have been published in Georg Horn's atlas of the ancient world, issued by Jansson's son-in-law.

Dutch Map Of Palestine

An important <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/maps-&amp;-botanicals?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">map</a> of China by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sothebys.com%2Fen%2Fsearch%3Fquery%3DMartin+Waldseem%C3%BCller&amp;pfilters.dateRange=past" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Martin Waldseemüller</a>, the first 'modern' map of the region, which includes Tibet, Tartary and Japan.<ul><li>Martin Waldseemüller (German).</li><li>Ta. Superioris Indiae.</li><li>Lyons: Melchior and Gaspar Trechsel, 1535.</li><li>Hand colored woodcut.</li><li>This work is presented unframed.</li></ul> Although it was published in an edition of Ptolemy's Geographia, it was not a reduction of a map from the Waldseemuller edition of 1513, but a new one prepared for a new Chronica mundi being written by Waldseemüller. The title, as above, is on the reverse, with a descriptive text in Latin surrounded by woodcut columns. Waldseemüller expanded the Ptolemaic map of the Far East by adding information on Tartary and Japan gleaned from the accounts of Marco Polo. Japan is a large island called Zipangri, a name derived from the Chinese 'Land of the Rising Sun', which Polo learned about from the Chinese, long before the first recorded European visit to Japan. The landing of the Portuguese Alvarado in Okinawa was in 1542, seven years after this map was printed.

Ta. Superioris Indiae | The First Map of China Printed in Europe

A two-sheet map of Europe.<ul><li>Vincenzo Maria Coronelli (Italian).</li><li>Parte Occidentale dell'Europa...; Parte Orientale dell'Europa...</li><li>Venice: circa 1690.</li><li>Colored. </li><li>Two sheets conjoined.</li><li>This work is presented unframed.</li></ul> A highly decorative map of Europe in two sheets, each with its own title cartouche. On this map Nova Zemblya still has an undecided coastline and the northern reaches of Siberia are marked as 'Piaggie non per anco conosciute'. Iceland is shown with erupting volcanos and the mythical island of Frisland is shown.

Italian Map Of Europe

A large and highly-detailed geological <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/maps-&amp;-botanicals?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">map</a> of Arabia, created for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources by Glen F. Brown of the U.S. Geological Survey.<ul><li>Glen Brown (American), for the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Petroleum.</li><li>Tectonic Map of the Arabian Peninsula.</li><li>Color printed map.</li><li>This work is presented unframed.</li></ul> The map highlights onshore oil fields, marked in pink with cross-hatching. Notably, the map lacks many political borders. While borders with Jordan, Iraq, and Kuwait are shown, those with Qatar and the UAE are absent. The gulf on this map is named "Arabian Gulf." This tectonic map integrates the latest geological research of its time, incorporating data from geophysical surveys, deep exploratory drilling, and even Gemini and Apollo space photography. The color coding differentiates between 'Effusive Rocks' (shades of blue), 'Cenozoic or late Mesazoic Intrusive or Tectonically Emplaced Rocks', 'Precambrian and Cambrian Intrusive or Tectonically Emplaced Rocks' and 'Precambrian Rocks'.

Tectonic Map of Arabia Marking the 'Arabian Gulf'

The first map of the county of Cornwall, here published one and a half centuries after its original publication.<ul><li>Christopher Saxton (English).</li><li>Cornwall described by C. Saxton, corrected and many additions as the roads &amp; c. by P. Lea.</li><li>London: George Willdey, circa 1732.</li><li>Old color.</li></ul> Over the years, a number of changes had been made to the plate: the original title was replaced by the view of Launceston c. 1665; the arms of Elizabeth I were replaced by those of Charles I, then Charles II; the panel of armorials were added c. 1665 by an unknown publisher; Lea added his name and Ogilby's roads in 1689 and changed the title for the second time in 1694; and Willdey added his address c. 1732. Willdey seems to have been a jack-of-all-trades: his address reads "the Great Toy, Spectacle, China Ware, and Print Shop, the corner of Ludgate Street near St Paul's London." Still, this was not the end of the Saxton plates; they were issued again by Thomas Jefferys and Cluer Dicey into the 1770s.

Map of Cornwall

A beautiful double-hemisphere <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/maps-&amp;-botanicals" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">world wall map</a>, with the title in French and Spanish, with the Western Hemisphere held aloft by Atlas, the Eastern by Hercules.<ul><li>Jean Baptiste Louis Clouet (French, 1730-1790).</li><li>Paris &amp; Cadiz: Louis Joseph Mondhare, 1788.</li><li>Carte General de la Terre ou Mappe Monde Avec Les Quatre Principeaux Sistemes.</li><li>The borders, 175mm wide at the sides and 160mm at the bottom, contain twenty vignette scenes from the Old Testament, all in full color, with short texts in French and Spanish. </li><li>Around the map are nine astronomical diagrams.</li><li>This work is presented unframed.</li></ul> The cartography includes a measure of fallacy and anomaly: in North America the 'Mer de l'Ouest is shown, as is the North West Passage of de Fonte; and despite Hawaii being marked as the place of Captain Cook's death (erroneously dated '17 Fevr. 1778' instead of 14th Feb 1779), the map has not been corrected to show the discoveries made by Cook in the decade before his death. Thus New Zealand is a partial outline, although circumnavigated in 1770-1 and Australia is still connected to Tasmania and Espirito Santo. Surviving copies of this example are rare.

French and Spanish Double-Hemisphere World Map

A detailed map of Central London, based on the Ordnance Survey, overprinted with the routes of the Underground lines.<ul><li>George Washington Bacon (English).</li><li>London Transport Underground. Map of London.</li><li>London: Roadway Publications, 1934. </li><li>Color-printed map.</li></ul>

Quad-Royal poster map with Central London's Underground

The famous fantasy map of Asia as Pegasus.<ul><li>Heinrich Bünting (German).</li><li>Asia Secunda pars Terrae in Forma Pegasir.</li><li>Hanover: 1581. </li><li>Woodcut. </li><li>This work is presented unframed.</li></ul> A fantasy map depicting Asia as Pegasus, the winged horse of Perseus. The head is Turkey and Armenia, the wings Scythia and Tartary, forelegs Arabia, hind legs India and the Malay Peninsula. &nbsp;This strange map appears in Bünting's Itinerarium, in which the author, a theologian, rewrote the Bible as a travel book, with other fantasy maps including the World as a cloverleaf and Europe as the Virgin Mary. Although the title and text under the map are in Latin, the text on verso is German.

German Map Of Asia As Pegasus

An early 17th century town plan of Venice.<ul><li>Giovanni Antonio De Paoli (Italian).</li><li>Venetia.</li><li>Rome: de Paoli, circa 1620.</li><li>This work is presented unframed.</li></ul> A map of Venice presented as a bird's-eye view, with the buildings shown in perspective and the lagoon filled with galleys and galleons. Underneath are the key, inset views of Piazza de San Marco and the Rialto Bridge, and a scene of a procession of the Doge, pilgrims returning from the Holy Land and important women of Venice.

Italian Map Of Venice

Mid-18th century wall map of the British Isles.<ul><li>Louis Charles Desnos (French).</li><li>Les Isles Britanniques, où sont les Royaumes d'Angleterre et d'Ëcosse, que nous appellons Grande-Bretagne et celey d'Irlande.</li><li>Paris: 1766.</li><li>Colored.</li><li>Four sheets conjoined.</li><li>Paper laid on linen.</li><li>This work is presented unframed.</li></ul> A large and colorful map of the British Isles, marking the major roads, with insets of the Shetlands and Orkneys and a large title cartouche.

French Map Of The British Isles

A Belgian <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book?Book%20Subject=Maps%2520and%2520Atlases" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">map</a> of the Pacific.<ul><li>Abraham Oretlius (Belgian)</li><li>Maris Pacifici, from Theatre de l’Univers.</li><li>Antwerp: Christopher Plantin for the author, 1598.</li><li>Double-page copper engraved map, with later hand-coloring.</li><li>Enriched with decorative cartouches and ships.</li><li>French text to verso.</li><li>This work is presented mounted and unframed.</li></ul>&nbsp;Well-preserved example of Ortelius’ map of the Pacific, taken from the fifth, final, and most complete French edition of Theatre de l’Univers.

Belgian Map Of The Pacific

An important <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/maps-&amp;-botanicals?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">map</a> of the Holy Land, engraved for Moses Wesel's Haggadah.<ul><li>Abraham bar Jacob (German).</li><li>Amsterdam: circa 1712.</li><li>This work is presented unframed.</li></ul> The earliest available printed map of the region in Hebrew; the only complete example of the earliest, the 1621 map of Yaaqov ben Abraham Zaddiq, is in the Bibliothèque National in Paris. The map was drawn by Abraham bar Jacob, or Abraham bar Yaaqov, (c.1669-1730), a German pastor from the Rhineland who converted to Judaism and moved to Amsterdam, becoming an engraver. He has based his map on that of Christian Van Adrichom but has removed any reference to Christianity. The land is divided into the Twelve Tribes, with the names of villages mentioned in the Bible. The Exodus is marked, with a list of the 41 camps in the strapwork cartouche, with the unusual feature of presenting the journey 'not as leaving but returning.' Among the vignettes under the map are the ships of Solomon dragging rafts of cedar for the building of the Temple, and Jonah being thrown overboard and his deliverance. The eagle represents the verse in Exodus in which describes bearing the Israelites from Egypt on eagles' wings.The woman riding a crocodile is an allegorical representation of Egypt. Because the map was published in a Haggadah, for use at the Seder Table, it is usually found with some damage. It was first published circa 1695 but continued to be printed until at least 1781.

Map of the Holy Land in Hebrew

A very fine example of one of the most famous maps of the Americas, a "carte-a-figures" with 10 costume vignettes down the sides and nine city prospects along the top.<ul><li>Willem Janszoon Blaeu (Dutch).</li><li>Amsterdam: Johannes Blaeu,&nbsp;c. 1650.</li><li>Latin text edition.</li><li>Original color.</li></ul> This map was originally published separately in 1617, with an extremely rare first state that did not show Cape Horn. Within a year, Jacob le Maire returned from his trip around the Cape and his new information was added to the plate. A second change was implemented in 1621 when Willem Janszoon added the "Blaeu" to his name to distance himself from his arch rival Jan Janszoon, so his new name was added under the title. Two more states, both just minor embellishments, appeared in the 1640s, before the plate was destroyed in the fire at the Blaeu printing works in 1672. Johannes Blaeu seems to have continued using this dated plate out of respect for his father. It still depicts California in a peninsular form when Blaeu's globes showed an island; the mythical island of Frisland appears on the map and in the inset of Greenland; and Sir Walter Raleigh's "El Dorado" appears in South America.

Americae nova Tabula Map

The province Zhili from the first European atlas of China.<ul><li>Johannes Blaeu (Dutch).</li><li>Pecheli, sive Peking, Imperii Sinarum Provincia Prima.</li><li>Amsterdam: circa 1655.</li><li>Old color with gold highlights</li><li>Blank verso.</li><li>This work is presented unframed.</li></ul> A map of the old province of North Zhili (Beizhili), with the Great Wall of China running across the top. It was published in the 'Novus Atlas Sinensis', the first Western atlas of China, which contained maps supplied by Martino Martini, the Jesuit missionary who travelled through China 1643-1650.&nbsp; &nbsp;The large title cartouche features the Emperor and Empress and two exotic Chinese pheasants.

Dutch Map Of China

A prospect <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/maps-&amp;-botanicals" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">map</a> of London, by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Samuel+and+Nathaniel+Buck&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Samuel and Nathaniel Buck</a>.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 5 plates.</li><li>Samuel &amp; Nathaniel Buck (English).</li><li>London: circa 1749.</li><li>Colored.</li><li>Each is presented unframed.</li></ul> An incredibly-detailed prospect of London and Westminster from the Thames, showing from Millbank in the west to the Tower of London, with an 140-point key underneath. The first sheet, Millbank to the Treasury sketched from 'Mr Sheve's Sugar House, opposite to York House', shows the finishing touches being made to Westminster Bridge, with stonemasons at work in the bottom left corner. On the Thames in front of Millback is a ferry carrying a coach and horses, the 'Horseferry' that became obsolete when the bridge opened the following year. Westminster Abbey has the two towers added in 1734. The second sheet, the Treasury to Somerset House from 'Mr Watson's Summer House, opposite to Somerset House', shows one of the rare surviving pieces of riverside history, York Stairs. The Italianate watergate, built c.1626, remains in place but is now separated from the river by 150 yards of the Thames Embankment. The third plate, Somerset House to Bridewell from 'Mr Everard's Summer-House, opposite to St Bride's Church', depicts the City Barge and ceremonial barge of the East India Company. East of Whitefriars Stairs, unsurprisingly unnamed, is 'Whitefriars Laystall', a huge heap of human dung collected from the ward of Farringdon. Plate four, the Fleet to St Michael's Bassingshaw from the 'West part of the Leads of St Mary Overy's Church in Southwark', is dominated by the dome of Wren's St Paul's Cathedral. The 'Fleet Ditch' is still open, twenty years before it disappeared under Blackfriars Bridge. The final plate, Old Street Church to Limehouse, also from St Mary Overy, details London Bridge, less than a decade before an Act of Parliament ordered the removal of the buildings that strangled it. In the far right is the Tower of London.

Prospect Map of London

A reduction of the world <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=map&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">map</a> by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Jacob+Harrewyn&amp;pfilters.dateRange=past" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Jacob Harrewyn</a>, showing the world as a sphere, centered on the North Pole.<ul><li>Jacob Robyn (Dutch).</li><li>Nieuw Aerdsch Pleyn.</li><li>Amsterdam: Cornelis Danckerts, 1696.</li><li>This work is presented unframed.</li></ul> A late-17th century map on an equidistant polar azimuthal projection. California is an island; the Great Lakes are open-ended in the west; and the partial coastlines of Australia and New Zealand appear stretched east-west by the unusual projection. The four corners are filled with elaborate scenes with allegorical figures. The map is a reduction of the four-sheet world map by Jacob Harrewyn, published by Robyn and Henrick Doncker in 1687. This single-sheet version was first published in 1696, with the decorative corners attributed to Herrewyn. This second state has had Robyn's name removed.

Dutch Map of the World

The first Western publication of a Chinese <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/maps-&amp;-botanicals?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">map</a> of China, by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Samuel+Purchas&amp;pfilters.dateRange=past" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Samuel Purchas</a>.<ul><li>Samuel Purchas (English).</li><li>The Map of China.</li><li>London: Henry Featherstone, 1625.</li><li>This work is presented unframed.</li></ul> A rare and important map of China, based on a Chinese woodblock map, with Chinese characters in the title but not on the map. It depicts the Great Wall and has a vignette portrait of Matteo Ricci (an Italian Jesuit missionary) and two costume illustrations. Unlike the majority of plates published in Purchas His Pilgrimies, this is not printed from the old Hondius Atlas Minor plates. Instead Purchas copied a Chinese map brought back to England by John Saris, an East India Company merchant, who had acquired it from a Fujianese merchant in part-payment for a debt. Unable to read the script, Purchas removed the Chinese names on the map, but left the symbols representing towns.

The First Western Publication of a Chinese Map of China

A Dutch copy of Morden and Lea's map, first published in 1690, extending from Hyde Park clockwise to Marylebone, Islington, Hackney, Stepney, Limehouse, Southwark and Lambeth, with many of the important buildings and monuments shown as elevations.<ul><li>Robert Morden (English).</li><li>Philip Lea (English).</li><li>This Actual Survey of London, Westminster &amp; Southwark Is humbly dedicated to ye L.d Mayor &amp; Court of Aldermen.</li><li>Amsterdam: Jean Covens &amp; Cornelis Mortier, circa 1750.</li><li>The map has been updated with the developments around Grosvenor Square and Cavendish Square, and Westminster Bridge, approved 1736 and opened 1750, as shown.</li><li>Under the map are extensive numbered tables corresponding with numbers on the map and detailing Public Offices, Wards, Halls and Companies, Markets, Inns of Court and Chancery, Prisons, Palaces, Public Buildings, Hospitals and Parishes, un-updated.</li><li>Two sheets conjoined.</li><li>This work is presented unframed.</li></ul>

Dutch Map of London

A 17th century Dutch <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/maps-&amp;-botanicals" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">map</a> of Arabia by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Johannes+Blaeu&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Johannes Blaeu</a>.<ul><li>Johannes Blaeu (Dutch).</li><li>Arabia.</li><li>Amsterdam: circa 1665.</li><li>Original color.</li><li>This work is presented unframed.</li></ul> A Dutch map of Arabia, decorated with an elaborate title cartouche featuring an incense caravan and a scale cartouche with cherubs with a cross-staff. Due to the lack of new information, Blaeu still depicts the peninsula divided into the three Roman Provinces, using the Ptolemaic names: ' Arabia Felix', 'Arabia Petraea' and 'Arabia Deserta.' 'Arabia Felix' (Latin for 'Loyal Arabia') covers the majority of the Peninsula, even though the term relates to the comparatively fertile regions of present day Asir and Yemen. 'Arabia Petraea' (Stony Arabia) is located in North West Arabia and was a frontier province of imperial Rome. 'Arabia Deserta' refers to the desert interior, which was populated by nomadic tribes who frequently invaded richer lands, of which the cartographic detail is mostly imaginary.

Dutch Map of Arabia

a German <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/maps-&amp;-botanicals" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">map</a> of Scandinavia, by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Martin+W%C3%A4ldseem%C3%BCller&amp;pfilters.dateRange=past" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Martin Wäldseemüller</a>.<ul><li>Martin Wäldseemüller (German).</li><li>Strasbourg: Johannes Schott, 1520.</li><li>Tabula Moderna Norbegie Et Gottie.</li><li>Colored woodcut.</li><li>This work is presented unframed.</li></ul> A scarce woodcut map of Scandinavia, one of the extra modern maps in Waldseemuller's edition of of Claudius Ptolemy's 'Geographia.' It is a copy of the first printed map of the region, published in the Ulm edition of Ptolemy in 1482. Cities marked include 'Asto' (Oslo), 'Begensis' (Bergen), 'Nodrosia' (Nidaros) and 'Stauargerensis' (Stavanger). This map was first printed in 1513: this example dates from 1520, with all but one of the lines of letterpress text in the borders removed. Later edition of Waldseemuller's editions of Ptolemy used the smaller woodblock cut for Laurent Fries.

German Map of Scandinavia

German <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/maps-&amp;-botanicals?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">maps</a> of the western and eastern hemispheres by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Eberhard+Werner+Happel&amp;pfilters.dateRange=past" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Eberhard Werner Happel</a>.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 2.</li><li>Eberhard Werner Happel (German).</li><li>Untitled pair of Eastern and Western hemispheres.</li><li>Ulm, 1684.</li><li>Two plates.</li><li>Each is presented unframed.</li></ul> Untitled pair of Eastern and Western hemispheres. A decorative pair of maps of the world in two separate hemispheres, both with allegorical figures representing the Four Continents in the corners. In the Western Hemisphere California is an island; a huge Great Lake is open-ended in the west; New Zealand is mapped according to Abel Tasman In the Eastern Hemisphere, the Caspian Sea is wider than it is tall; the east coast of Australia is unmapped, pre-dating Cook's visit by three-quarters of a century. Published in the Historia moderna Europae, an account of Europe's recent political history.

German Maps of the Western and Eastern Hemispheres

A French <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book?Book%20Subject=Maps%252C%2520Botanicals%2520and%2520More" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">map</a> of California as an island, by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Nicolas+de+Fer&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Nicolas de Fer</a>.<ul><li>Nicolas de Fer (French).</li><li>La Californie ou Nouvelle Caroline, Teatro de los Trabajos Apostolicos De Compa.e. Jesus en la America Sept. Dressé sur celle que le Viceroy de la Nouvelle Espagne...</li><li>Paris: 1720. </li><li>Original outline color.</li><li>This work is presented unframed.</li></ul> The largest representation of the island of California on a single-sheet map. It is an enlarged version of Fer's map of 1700, allowing the 314 names in the original key to be moved onto the map. In place of the key is a text telling the history of California up to 1695, and four vignettes. Bottom left is a cartouche, illustrated with creatures including a Spoonbill and an armadillo, which seems to be lacking extra text. Most of the detail in the Mexican interior comes from the work of Father Eusebio Francisco Kino (1645-1711), an Italian Jesuit. It is interesting that it was Kino first claimed California was joined to the mainland, as early as 1702.

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