Pieter van der Aa; 1659-1733.
Van der Aa, started his own book making shop in Leyden in
1672, publishing an enormous amount of materials. He did branch
out seriously in the atlas business in 1707, probably on account
of the strong interest for geography with the dutch public
of that time. The golden age of the East India Company was
over, but international trade was still a major economic trump
for the Low Countries. His cartographic knowledge and skills
were rather limited, but he borrowed extensively from the
masters of the art. His maps were quite decorative, and made
the success of "Atlas nouveau et curieux" in 1710, and above
all of the 27 volume "La gallerie agréable du monde" in 1729.
Cuba en Jamaica, soo als die door Kolumbus ontdekt, en
by de Kastilianen bevolkt syn.
This small map (8 5/8" X 5 7/8") was engraved for the 1707
"Cartes des itineraires et voyages modernes", a massive encyclopedic
work of 28 volumes, replete with detailed maps of the itineraries
of the great explorers.
The cartouche shows a portrait of Christopher Colombus (first
westerner to see Cuba during his epic first voyage in 1492)
framed by two puttis, or cherubs. Notice also the strange
birds found in these new lands, and the net and bow used to
capture or kill them.
The coast of south Florida is quite original (the "caio de
dose leguas" has to be understood as Key Largo). In the Bahamas,
the island of Guanahani (or St Salvador) is prominently shown
since it is the spot of America where Colombus first landed.
In Cuba, it seems that the towns of Havana and Matanzas were
competing for supremacy, while other towns are of lesser importance.
Notice that Jamaica, under british control, was much less
documented than other island, not even showing its most important
town: Port Royal.
No text on verso.
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