Italy - "The Duchy of Mantua" : Eastern Lombardy, Mantua Province; Johannes Janssonius - Mantua Ducatus [Duché de Mantoue] - 1621-1650

Old copper-engraved map enhanced by hand of the Duchy of Mantua by Jan Jansson (address “Amstelodami, Excudebat Ioannes Ianssonius”), published in 1633 in the Mercator-Hondius atlas.

Here you can see the city of Mantua, represented in perspective view and surrounded by its lake formed by the Mincio. The title cartouche, “Mantva Dvcatvs,” is adorned with garlands of foliage, ribbons, and heraldic shields. In the lower right, a second cartouche houses two scales, in Italian miles and in German miles. It is surmounted by a grotesque head and bears the publisher’s address.

The territory is crossed by the Po, the Adige, and many waterways. The settlements are indicated by small circles, and the strongholds by views in elevation. The reliefs are depicted near Solferino and Peschiera, the wooded areas around Mantua, and the marshes in the southeast. The borders are outlined with washes of color, and the frames carry graduations.

- Dimensions: on the sheet: 56 x 47.5 cm; on the plate (map): 46.9 x 35.3 cm
- Condition: Good overall for a map of this period. There is a central vertical crease, light stains, and brown damp stains along the upper margin. See photos for more details.

Atlas Mercator-Hondius
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The atlas called “Mercator-Hondius” continues the work of Gerard Mercator, whose copperplates were purchased by Jodocus Hondius in 1604. This French edition of 1633 is signed by his son Henricus Hondius and by his son-in-law Joannes Janssonius, who added new maps.

Johannes Janssonius
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Jan Jansson (Johannes Janssonius, 1588-1664) was a printer, publisher, and cartographer based in Amsterdam. Brother-in-law of Henricus Hondius, he took over the plates of the Mercator and Hondius atlas and circulated them from the 1630s. He later published his own Atlas Novus. He is, with Willem Blaeu, one of the leading map publishers of the Dutch Golden Age.