WYTFLIET, CORNELIUS | Histoire universelle des Indes occidentales. Douai: Francois Fabri, 1611

WYTFLIET, CORNELIUS

Histoire universelle des Indes occidentales. Douai: Francois Fabri, 1611

3 parts in one volume, folio (11 3/4 x 7 3/8 in.; 299 x 188 mm). 3 printed titles within engraved borders, woodcut head- and tailpieces, woodcut initials, 19 double-page engraved maps covering the American continent; lacking the 4 small maps present on one double-page sheet in Magini’s supplement, toning to text leaves, margin of initial title trimmed and repaired, one or two other marginal repairs, small hole to d-iii and f-i affecting five or so words, several leaves erratically numbered but all present. Contemporary calf, spine with raised bands in 7 compartments, second gilt-lettered, others with repeat rules and decorative device in gilt, double gilt rules to covers, edges speckled red; overall rubbed with some loss to calf, upper joint weak but holding.

Third edition of the first atlas of America 

Wytfliet’s work, first published in 1597, was conceived as a supplement to Ptolemy’s Geography, and is the first printed atlas devoted entirely to the Americas with text based on Ramusio, Hakluyt, de Bry, Acosta and others. The maps present in Histoire include the first printed map of central Canada, the first printed map devoted to California and the American southwest, and the most accurate map of the east coast to appear until the publication of Johannes de Laet's Beschrijvinghe van West-Indien in 1630.

REFERENCES

Nordenskiold 2:310; Phillips Atlases 4459; Sabin 105701