17th century map of Chile

BLAEU, Willem Janszoon.

Chili.
Amsterdam, 1662, Latin text. Original colour. 360 x 485mm. Extra wide margins

An early map of Chile, orientated with north to the left, showing Copiapo south to the Isla de Chiloé and the City of Castro, published in Blaeu's 'Atlas Major'.
With such a long, thin country, Blaeu's ingenuity with decoration was stretched to the limit: a title cartouche, compass rose, one of the largest scale cartouches on a folio Blaeu map and a 5-point key on a scroll are all used to fill the empty space on the far side of the Andes. The sea has rhumb lines, two galleons, two sea monsters, another compass rose and a publisher's cartouche.


Stock ID : 19827