1716 Bodenehr / Stridbeck Comparative Map of America and the Pacific

This is a joined pair of maps of the Western Hemisphere, engraved by Johann Stridbeck for inclusion in Georg Bodenehr's small format 1716 atlas. The maps are presented side by side to contrast French and Dutch cartographic perspectives on the New World. In this singular example, the plate for the 'Dutch' America map is in its rare first state (with the explorers' medallions) rather than the more common second state.

A Closer Look

Superficially, the maps are cartographically similar - indeed, their titles are identical except that one refers to the French (Frantzoischer) and the other to the Dutch (Hollandischer). Both include a prominent insular California, and they are close enough that the California-as-an-island maven Glen McLaughlin classified them as different states of the same plate. Closer inspection shows them to be from separate plates.

The French

The left-hand map, showing French cartography, is a reduction of the western hemisphere of Sanson's 1678 world map. North America includes the recognizable Great Lakes, and there is a distinct northwest passage leading from Hudson Bay to the Pacific north of the insular California. To the west, there is a large Land von Jesso spanning between North America and Asia. New Guinea is shown, as is western coastline of New Zealand and part of Tasmania located further east than on Dutch cartography. In South America, the Amazon appears with accuracy. As with Sanson, this map shows a trace of the legendary unknown southern continent, albeit separate from Tierra del Fuego.

The Dutch

This map is more reflective of the Western Hemisphere as depicted on the world maps of Joan Blaeu, or of later mapmakers like Visscher or De Wit. There is no Northwest Passage depicted leading from Hudson Bay; and just one incomplete Great Lake. New Zealand is shown further to the west than on the French Map. And as with the state-of-the-art Dutch maps, the as-yet-undiscovered Southern Continent makes no appearance.

A Scarce First State 'Hollandish' Map

The 'Dutch' map appearing here is a first state (Mclaughlin) decorated with medallions commemorating four explorers: Columbus, Drake, the French explorer De Saile, and the French Jesuit Tachard. These maps were issued for Bodenehr's Atlas Curieux oder Neuer und Compendieuser Atlas, printed from their separate plates to a single sheet. In most examples, the Dutch map appears in its second state, lacking the explorers' medallions.

In the present example, the first state of the Dutch map has been joined with the French map: either from a deliberate aesthetic choice, or perhaps in an effort to use up remaining stock of the first plate.

Publication History and Census

These maps were engraved by Johann Stridbeck, and were included in Bodenehr's c. 1710 Atlas Curieux. The work stayed in print for at least a decade after. However, cataloging suggests that the first state of the Dutch map was engraved as early as 1704. The second state begins appearing in 1716, but may be earlier. Note that McLaughlin categorizes the 'French' map as a third state of the 'Dutch' map, but it is more accurately a separate plate altogether. The 'Dutch' first plate, second state map, and the 'French' second plate appear on the market with some regularity, but the first plate, first state with the explorers' medallions is scarce.