[Janssonius, Joannes]

Folio (530 x 330mm.), 5 volumes, engraved allegorical title, manuscript indexes in volumes 1, 4 and 5 inserted at beginning of each volume, 474 mostly double-page engraved maps with contemporary body colour, [Koeman, III, p.111 (the catalogue) and p.109 for comments on the Janssonius items], eighteenth-century half, some marginal worming just affecting 2 maps in volume 1, map 35 (Tabula Moscoviae) torn, occasional light offsetting, bindings worn

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

A fine composite atlas, published by Schenk and Valk, composed of map-plates acquired from the stock of Johannes Janssonius, comparable with the catalogue quoted in extenso by Koeman, but without the Cellarius Atlas Coelestis volume mentioned.

Koeman suggests the partners were "republishing the maps from Janssonius's Novus Atlas since ca. 1680"; however this collection contains numbers of new maps with the individual imprint of Schenk (the latest his 'Hollandiae Borealis' dated 1708), Valk and Frederick de Wit. The three world maps are the van Loon world with Schenk and Valk imprint, the van den Keere Mercator map of the world with panelled borders, in the Moses Pitt state, and the Blaeu/Valk polar hemisphere world, while the maps of the four continents are by Schenk.

Volume 1 contains the Janssonius atlas of the British Isles, in an unrecorded "edition", intermediate between Hodson's 130 (prior to the addition of the Schenk and Valk imprint, and other revisions) and 131, published by David Mortier in 1714 (with some of the Janssonius maps replaced by Blaeu maps). The examples here have the revisions called for under 131, but lack the engraved plate numbers called for in that atlas.

This atlas is remarkable for the quality of the contemporary colour, and the internal condition, and is an outstanding example of a late seventeenth-century Dutch atlas.

Volume 1 contains maps of the world, Europe, Scandinavia and British Isles
Volume 2 - Low Countries and Germany
Volume 3 - Germany and France
Volume 4 - France, Spain and Italy
Volume 5 - Hungary, Asia, Africa and the Americas