Original antique map of the world, printed in Amsterdam by Visscher in 1663.
This is the first state of Visscher's double hemisphere map of the world, which includes many of the great 17th Century cartographic myths and errors. The second state includes a note granting Visscher a 15-year privilege, which appears directly below the title.
A massive land extension north of California reaches nearly to Asia and shows the Straits of Anian and NW Passage, with dozens of early place names on the NW Coast, including Quivira Regnum, which appears twice (one just opposite the Straits of Anian and once just east of the Rio Grande Rive
North America is misconfigured in a manner similar to early world maps by Hondius. A partial New Zealand and Australia both appear. The tracks of Magellan's circumnavigation are shown, along with other cartographic misconceptions.
Four allegorical female figures represent the four continents (Europe, Asia, America and Africa), along with exotic allegorical scenes.
The map was prepared for an Elzevir Bible is probably the single most copied world map of the 17th and 18th Century, with a number of different engravers copying the cartography and decorative elements for nearly 100 years.
Nicolaes Visscher worked in Amsterdam with his father and ran the family map and opublishing business.In about 1657, the first edition of his Atlas Contractus Orbis Terrarum appeared.Between 1664 and 1677, his “Atlas Contractus” appeared without a printed index, for these atlases had no fixed contents but were composed according to the buyer's wishes.
In May 1664, Nicolaes Visscher was admitted as a member of the Booksellers' Guild of his town.
In July 1677, he was granted a patent of the States of Holland and West-Friesland for printing and publishing maps and atlases for 15 years.
After this, he again published an Atlas Contractus with a printed index. At about the same time, he also brought out an Atlas Minor.
