Visscher, Nicholaus “Insula Matanino Vulgo Martinico…” [Martinique]

Nicolaus Visscher II (1649-1702).  “Insula Matanino Vulgo Martinico…”  [Martinique]. 

Amsterdam:  N. Visscher, ca. 1700?  18 1/4 x 22 1/8.  Engraving.  Original outline color.    Expertly repaired tears in center of image.  Lightened stains from old repair in upper center.  Map has been professionally conserved and lined with rice paper.  Else, clean and in good condition. 

A lovely and large map of the island of Martinico by Dutch cartographer Nicolaus Visscher.  The information is copious and quite accurate, as with most maps of their own lands by cartographers in the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries.  The decorative features of the map are outstanding, and they are here extremely well presented with the rich impression of this wonderful engraving.  The combination of decorative title and fine detail is reminiscent of work by the Blaeu family earlier in the century.  A superb map from the Dutch cartographic tradition.