Greenland & North America – Antique Sea Chart by Frederick de Wit, 1745
€ 3 500
Original antique · The actual sheet photographed · Certificate of authenticity on request · Sold unframed · Worldwide shipping from € 15 (rates)
Date
1745
Technique
Engraved
Sheet size
54.5 × 66 cm (21.5 × 26.0 in)
Condition
Good
Reference
PCT-59809
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
Beautiful original/contemporary hand coloring. Original folding line. Minor wear and toning. Small hole outside image. Please review the images for further condition details.
About this sheet
A sea chart of the northern waters of North America, titled "Septemtrionaliora Americae a Groenlandia," engraved by Frederick de Wit for his atlas of 1675 and revised for the 1745 edition of Otten's Sea Atlas (Atlas van de Zeevaart). The chart is an engraving with hand coloring, drawn with compass roses and crossing rhumb lines over the sea.
The chart covers Labrador and part of Newfoundland, the west coast of Greenland, Davis Strait, and, by a non-existent passage, Baffin Bay and, through Hudson Strait, Hudson Bay. Hudson Bay is shown as a large green gulf with the name of James, and the coasts of "New North Wales," "Button's Bay" and "Nova Britannia" are lettered along the western shore. An allegorical cartouche with the title and figures stands at the center left, and a small ship sails in Baffin Bay. A separate inset at the upper left gives a more detailed chart of the fishing grounds at Disko Bay on the Greenland coast, with soundings and place names.
The chart reflects the Dutch interest in the northern whaling and fishing grounds and in the search for a Northwest Passage.
