MALDIVE ISLANDS MALDIVAE INSULAE
£145
Very fine early miniature map of the island group with the southern portion of Ceylon. A sea monster and two very finely engraved ships under full sail, one with a cannon blast, this map is from the first edition of the Langenes atlas.
Good hand colour
Very good condition.
Ref: Van der Krogt 3, 8390:341.
Publication Thrésor de Chartes. Den Haag, Albert Hendricks for Cornelis Claesz., c. 1600.
code : M4625
Cartographer : LANGENES Barent
Date : 1600 Amsterdam
Size : 8.5*12.5 cms
availability : Available
Price : £145
Barent Langenes
Langenes was a publisher in Middelburg about whom little is known except that he produced the first edition of a very well known miniature atlas, the 'Caert-Thresoor'.
The atlas was published by Cornelis Claesz in Amsterdam, the foremost publisher of the day. The copperplates were engraved by brothers-in-law Jodocus Hondius and Petrus Kaerius, the most skilled engravers of the day.
The Caert-Thresoor
The Caert-Thresoor, a small atlas of the world in oblong format, appeared in 1598; thereby, its publishers wrote a new page in the history of atlas cartography. The preparations for this prototype of the new generation of Dutch pocket atlases began around 1595. At that time, Cornelis Claesz commissioned the skilled engravers Jodocus Hondius and Pieter van den Keere to engrave the maps. An unnamed young writer and poet - in Burger's opinion, it was Cornelis Taemsz of Hoorn - was called upon to write the accompanying text. Claesz wanted his Caert-Thresoor to outshine the similar small world atlases that had been produced thus far in Antwerp. In this way, he set out to spark interest in and knowledge of geography among the public at large in the Northern Netherlands. In view of the various reprints, editions, and adaptations of this work in Dutch, French, and Latin, obviously the Amsterdam publisher was quite successful in that endeavor.
