ATLANTIS INSULA a NICOLAO SANSON Antiquitati Restituta; Nunc demum Majori Forma delineata, et in decem REGNA, Iuxta decem Neptuni Filios Distributa. Praterea INSULÆ, NOSTRÆQ CONTINENTIS REGIONES quibus Imperavere ATLANTICI REGES; aut quas Armis Tentavere. ex Conatibus Geographicis. Gulielmi Sanson Nicolai Filii. Amstelodami Apud Petrum Mortier Cum Privilegio. California as an Island - Atlantis Insula - Map of New World as Atlantis Amsterdam / 1690 By Sanson Mortier A very attractive map with bright original hand coloring (colored by hand). Two large sheets are joined at its vertical centerfold; the paper shows normal even overall tone and is in nice condition. This is possibly the engraved plate state three or four (of five). [Burden #405] Margins have not been trimmed, having all its original full wide margins present. Rare for this map. Map: 21.5? x 15.3? Plate: 22.0? x 16.2? Sheet: 24.0? x 20.0? Color outlined; slight toning; minor fraying at edges. A FINE EXAMPLE AND A RARE MAP. A strange mixture of myth and fact: America is called 'The Island of Atlantis', and divided into regions named after the ten sons of Neptune. California is shown as an island and the Great Lakes are open-ended in the west. Sanson's fascinating map of the New World as Plato's mythical Atlantis, divided among the 10 sons of Neptune, who is featured in the elaborate title cartouche. California is shown as a large island and northwestern North America/Atlantis extends all the way to the land of the Scythians in Asia. A very unusual map, that purports to show the earth about 200,000 years ago before its settlement by humans. The god Neptune had divided up the land masses among his ten sons. Fascination with the Atlantis legend caused the map to sell well from between 1669 and 1741. Atlantis was first described by Plato about 400 B.C. Interest in the lost continent or the Atlantian empire continued unabated into the late 19th and 20th Centuries. Over the next 2300 years, many other scholars and pseudo intellects championed various elements of the legend. This map depicts the Americas with California shown as an island (a misconception which continued well in to the 18th century). Unusual topography on this map shows North America with the Great Lakes still very misshapen and open-ended in the west. A large lake in the western part of North America is the source of a river which empties into the sea between the North American continent and naturally, California is depicted as an Island. The map also appeals to collectors because the Great Lakes are shown as a thematic version of the prototype Sanson first published in 1650. The map shows the cartographic knowledge of the Western World as of the middle of the 17th Century, with California shown as an island, the Dutch discoveries in Australia and New Zealand and the style mythical / conjectural configurations of Alaska, Japan and the lands between. Most of the Asian European coastlines parts of New Guinea, New Zealand and Australia are shown. Mexico City Cuzco are noted (the capitals of the New World). The map includes both Asian and European coastlines and bits of New Guinea, New Zealand and Australia. This is a purely topographical map and shows Machimos Bellatrix (Mexico City) and Cuzco, the capitals of the New World. There are such names as Gadirus in present-day Canada, Thule Insula for Iceland, Altera Alta in the Southwest, Autochthon in Brazil, etc. The title cartouche is surrounded by tall grass with the figure of Neptune and his ten sons, and notes the Americas as the mythical island of Atlantis!! Nicolas Sanson Biography Nicholas Sanson (1600-1667) is considered the father of French cartography in its golden age from the mid-seventeenth century to the mid-eighteenth. Over the course of his career he produced over 300 maps. His success can be chalked up to his geographic and research skills, but also to his partnership with Pierre Mariette. Nicolas Sanson, sometimes called Nicolas Sanson d'Abbeville or Sanson d'Abbeville, was the most important French cartographer of the 17th century. Tooley called Sanson "the founder of the French school of cartography." He began making maps in the late 1620s. Sanson was official mapmaker to Louis XIV. Because of his royal position, Sanson had access to official French records of the explorations in the New World. Pieter Mortier Biography Pierre, or Pieter, Mortier (1661-1711) was a Dutch engraver, son of a French refugee. He was born in Leiden. In 1690 he was granted a privilege to publish French maps in Dutch lands. In 1693 he released the first and accompanying volume of the Neptune Francois. The third followed in 1700. His son, Cornelis (1699-1783), would partner with Johannes Covens I, creating one of the most important map publishing companies of the eighteenth century. BTC ETH XRP XLM DOGE LTC