Hereditas Antikvárium

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16. Könyvárverés

Amsterdam, 1638.
Regional map of the area of the Grand Duchy of Moscow north of the Sea of Azov by Jan Jansson. Its cartographic basis – as can be read in the cartouche – was provided by the work of Isaac Abrahamszoon Massa. From 1601, Massa – as a grain merchant – travelled extensively in Russia, which was stricken by the Time of Troubles (Смута) and famine. Upon returning to his homeland in 1609, he not only wrote accounts of his experiences there but also created five regional maps and two maps depicting Moscow, which were later used in their atlases by Gerard Mercator, Jodocus Hondius, Jan Jansson, and Willem Janszoon Blaeu. The engraver filled the entire map field, so where there were not enough topographic elements, he engraved forests (indicated by tiny trees), grassy steppes, typical wild animals of the region, camping figures, and small ships. He placed three cartouches on the sheet, two with simpler frame decorations, one of which contains the scale bar, the other Massa’s laudation. The third, surrounding the title field, is much more elaborate: there are figures on both sides dressed in Russian merchant and princely attire. Our piece is a rare, early copy with blank verso, and was sold either as a separate sheet or part of a composite atlas.
Dimensions: 385 x 500 (395 x 510) mm. Restored copy, cropped at the right edge of the sheet to the frame line of the map field.
van der Krogt I.: 1802.1.1., Koeman III.: Vis 12-137.