Antarctica, Australia, Patagonia Bertius/Hondius, 1618, Magallanica Terra Australis Incognita

Very beautiful and rare early 17th century copper engraved map by Petrus Bertius of map of the South Polar region, the first printed map to focus solely on the South Pole.

Bertius' map shows a massive unknown continent, which he calls Magallanica sive Terra Australis Incognita, which includes Terra de fuogo, Psittacorum Regio, Promontorium terrae australis, and Beach Provinica. New Guinea and the Salomon Islands are also shown, as the southern tip of Africa (C. de bona Esperaca). The province of Beach is derived from the accounts of Marco Polo. The map shows strait discovered by Magellan, but pre-dates Jacob Le Maire and Willem Schouten's discovery of the Le Maire Strait and large open ocean between Tierra Del Fuego and the yet undiscovered land masses to to the south. A small ship, sea monster and two compass roses decorate the tiny map.

Original hand coloring (this was only done to a very limited number of these atlases).

Published by Hondius in Amsterdam in 1618 in a French edition of ´Géographie raccourcie par Pierre BERTIUS´.

Excellent condition. Original hand coloring (very rare, only a few copies were sold with hand coloring). Never folded. Reverse side text in French