Antique Map of Gabon, Angola and the Congo Region in Africa c.1680

€ 340

Original antique · The actual sheet photographed · Certificate of authenticity on request · Sold unframed · Worldwide shipping from € 15 (rates)

Date: 1680
Technique: Engraved
Sheet size: 24.5 × 37 cm (9.6 × 14.6 in)
Condition: Good
Reference: BG-12416-1

What the condition grades mean

Excellent: Bright and clean, with no faults worth mentioning.
Very good: Only light signs of age, such as faint toning.
Good: Normal signs of age for a sheet of this period: toning, some foxing, small marks or neat old repairs.
Fair: Clear faults such as staining, tears or repairs, priced to match.

Every fault we see is written in the condition note, and the whole sheet is shown uncropped in the photos.

Condition

General age-related toning. Minor wear and foxing, blank verso. Please review the images for further condition details.

About this sheet

Antique map titled 'Royaume de Congo'.

Map of Gabon, the Congo and Angola from Cape Lopez and Sao Tomé to approximately the border with present-day Namibia. The map is fully engraved with mountains, rivers, forests and trails and decorated with a strapwork title cartouche. Engraved by Antoine d'Winter for a Dutch edition of Sanson's pocket atlas.

Artists and Engravers: Nicholas Sanson d'Abbeville (1600 - 1667) and his descendents were important French cartographer's active through the 17th century. Sanson started his career as a historian where, it is said, he turned to cartography as a way to illustrate his historical studies. In the course of his research some of his Fine maps came to the attention of King Louis XIII who, admiring the quality of his work, appointed Sanson 'Geographe Ordinaire du Roi'. Sanson's duties in this coved position included advising the King on matters of Geography and compiling the royal cartographic archive. Sanson's corpus of some three hundred maps initiated the golden age of French Cartography.