David Custos (or Custodi), c1600-c1650.
Precious little is known about David Custos or Custodi.
Custos was by trade an engraver, seemingly based in Frankfurt
am Main. He is known to have illustrated in particular the
"Lorberkrantz" (a history of the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand
II), first volume edited in 1627 by Nicolaus Bellus (pseudonym
for Michael Caspar Lundorp).
He also engraved illustrations for the Theatrum Historiae
Universalis issued by Christoph Helwig (Helvicus) in 1644
(a historic treatise covering the period of 1517 till 1644);
and for which he is said to have prepared reduced versions
of Gerard Mercator maps.
Descriptio Galliæ cum cosinys regionibus 1626.
This medium size map (12' X 10 ¼") was drawn in 1626 but
the present item printing date is unknown. It may have been
issued for a low priced publication: the printer did a rather
poor show, with ink smudges near Dijon, and faint lines west
of Avignon.
It is however a rare map, seen less often than the models
it is derived from.
The coastal delineation follows generally speaking the model
offered by Ortelius seminal map of 1570 (characterized by
the atrophied Cotentin peninsula).
The vernacular language used for place names is unusual for
a document of this date (almost all maps of this time were
inscribed in Latin).
Note how the spelling is extremely free, consistent with the
norm of the day (phonetics based).
Of note, the town of S Andre on the northern shore of Spain,
which we know now as Santander.
No text on verso.
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