Antiques for Sale > Prints and Maps

''IAPONIA…'' Amsterdam: Jodocus Hondius, c. 1606. Verso: French. Beautifully engraved map with skilfull old hand-coloring. Centerfold as issued - old paper repair at the bottom margin not affecting the map. (Image: 13 1/2 x 171/2’’).

Reference: Cortazzi, "Isles of Gold", pl 26, Walter OAG-12

One of the earliest printed maps of Japan and Korea: This elegant map of Japan is based on the Ortelius/Teixeira model with Honshu, Kyushu, and Shikoku depicted in more accurate proportions. Although Korea is shown as an elongated island, Hondius added a notation that is was uncertain if the region was an island or part of the mainland.

The map is richly ornamented with two strap-work cartouches, a European and Japanese ship, and a sea monster. Hondius engraved this map for inclusion in his edition of Mercator's atlas after he acquired Mercator's plates. It appeared in the editions of Atlas Sive Cosmographia from 1606 to 1636. This is an example of the first state of the map, before the title was changed and the junk was replaced with a galleon.