France - Vermandois, former county of Picardy: department of Aisne; Henricus Hondius - Vermandois - 1621-1650

Old copper-engraved map of Vermandois, hand-tinted, by Hondius, published in 1633 in the Mercator-Hondius atlas.

It shows Vermandois, the former county of Picardy centered on Saint-Quentin, bounded by a colored line. The map is oriented with the west at the top, as indicated by the Latin inscriptions Occidens, Septentrio, Oriens and Meridies.
The title is inscribed in a cartouche adorned with a mask and foliage. A second cartouche, festooned, contains two scales in French and German miles. In the lower right, a cartouche “With the King’s Privilege” tops the address of Henry Hondius in Amsterdam.

The depicted relief is limited to forests, drawn as colored trees. The principal towns (Saint-Quentin, Noyon, Ham, Péronne, La Fère, Guise, Beaurevoir) are shown in perspective, while the villages appear as small churches. The courses of the Oise, the Somme, and the Scheldt are traced, with the borders of Artois, Cambrésis, and Picardy.

The Paris address of Melchior Tavernier is printed under the map. On the back is the French text “Description of Vermandois” (pp. 281 and 284).

- Dimensions: sheet size 56 x 47.5 cm; map plate 46.9 x 35.3 cm
- Condition: Good overall for a map of this period. There is one central vertical fold, a few brown stains and minor soiling. See photos for details.

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

Henricus Hondius
- Henricus (Hendrik) Hondius I (1597-1651), engraver, cartographer and publisher born in Duffel and died in The Hague. Son of Jodocus Hondius, who had acquired Gerard Mercator’s plates, he continued the atlas publishing business in Amsterdam. He is the publisher of the Mercator-Hondius atlas, from which this map comes.