A very fine example of Moll's two-sheet map of the world

MOLL, Herman.

A New and Correct Map of The Whole World, Laid Down According to the Newest Discoveries, and the Most Exact Observations.
London: Herman Moll, John Bowles, Thomas Bowles & Philip Overton, 1709. Original outline colour refreshed. Two sheets conjoined, total 700 x 1200mm

Repairs to folds and narrow lateral margins, as usual with this large format map.

A large double-hemisphere map of the world, surrounded by astronomical illustrations, with a map of the North Pole in the upper cusp and a dedication to Prince George of Denmark (consort of Queen Anne, died 1708) in the lower cusp. This marks the map as an early example: a later state has a dedication the George II.
On the map California is shown as an island; the mythical ''Land of Jesso" appears north of Japan; Australia is shown with an incomplete coastline and joined to both Tasmania and Papua New Guinea and New Zealand is denoted by only one coast.
Of interest is the vitriolic attack on French cartography (especially Sanson, ''whose maps have been condemned, and found to be notoriously false'') and Dutch plagiarists under the map.


Stock ID : 22632