Rare double hemisphere map of the world. One of two maps of the world engraved by Jodocus Hondius for the Parisian publisher Jean Le Clerc in 1602.
The map is most noteworthy for its identification of Sir Francis Drake's hypothesis of an island (Tierra Del Fuego) off the coast of South America, 15 years before its actual discovery. All other maps of the period showed the straits of Magellan as the only navigable watercourse from the Atlantic to the Pacific, with a massive southern continent below the Strait. The path around the Horn was critical to European powers eager to circumvent Dutch claims of control over the Strait and therefore access from the Atlantic to the Pacific..
Hondius also includes the islands of Queen Elizabeth off the tip of South America and notes that Nova Albion on the far west of cost of North America was so named by the English in 1580.
A panel at the bottom contains a quote from the Psalms which was one of Hondius' favorites. The upper corners include circles showing the wind names in Italian and Dutch. The lower corners have circular diagrams showing the phases of the moon and the climatic zones. An astronomical sphere and compass rose are also included. Wonderful large unknown southern continent, narrow passage between South America and the unknown continent, excellent treatment of Japan and Southeast Asia and marvelous early cartography in the Pacific Ocean and along the NW Coast of America.
Shirley notes that examples of the map bearing the original 1602 date are very rare. One of the earliest obtainable world maps published in Paris.