| Note | Totius Asiae Continens cum Praecipuis Insulis eidem Annexis / [Heinrich Scherer]
Copper engraved
[Munich, c.1700]
230 x 350 mm
A finely engraved early eighteenth century map of the continent of Asia, from Heinrich Scherer's Atlas Novus. The continent is shown on an interesting isometric projection from the north, so that the Tropic of Cancer and the Equator run in large arcs across the map. China and Tartary are truncated, and Japan features a large northern bulge entitled 'Iedso.' Above this is a partial territory marked 'Compagnie Land.' In the bottom right corner, the northernmost parts of Australia, here labelled Nova Hollandia, can be seen, as well as parts of New Guinea. In China, north of 'Peking,' the Great Wall is depicted pictorially. The map is further enhanced by a large decorative oval cartouche containing the title, and a scale in German, Gallic, and Italian miles topped with the IHS Christogram of the Jesuit order.
Heinrich Scherer (1628-1704) was a German cartographer, geographer, engraver, and publisher. A Professor of mathematics at Munich University, Scherer was also a devout Catholic, a facet of his life that is immediately apparent in his published works. His most famous publication was the Atlas
Novus, an eight volume atlas produced between 1698 and 1710, which featured 187 plates depicting all of the known world, with particular reference to the activity of the Jesuit Order and the spread of Christianity around the world.
Condition: Central vertical fold as issued. Minor creasing to margins, not affecting map
Sanders [45445]
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