Provincae Lauden seu Lothien et Linlitouo

Copper engraved map, from Jansson’s ‘Atlas Major’, old colour, decorative title cartouche surrounded by animals and farmers, two putti embellish scales, Scottish Coat-of-Arms, compass rose, rhumb lines, central vertical fold, French text on verso, slight toning, occasional light foxing, wide margins, overall size 475 x590mm, Amsterdam, 1646

A 17th century Dutch county map of Scotland, covering part of Fife in the North to Edinburgh in the South, with Sterling in the East and Dunbar in the West. The detailed map includes cities, town, forests, lakes and hills.

Jan Jansson (1558-1664) was the son of Jan Janszoon the Elder, a publisher and bookseller. In 1612 he became Jodocus Hondius’ son-in-law and began producing his own maps in 1616. In the 1630s he formed a partnership with Henricus Hondius, his brother-in-law, and began enlarging the Hondius Atlas. In 1646 a fourth volume came out with ‘English County Maps’, a year after a similar issue by Joan Blaeu. There was a pre-existing rivalry between the Houses of Hondius and Blaeu but this sparked a cartographical arms race. They pushed each other to new heights of quality and accuracy in their maps leading to them totally dominating the European market in the first half of the seventeenth century.

Koeman: Me159