Lot No. 4: BERTIUS P.

BERTIUS P.

CAMBAY

Year: 1618

Size: 17.6 x 12.4 cm (6.9 x 4.8 inches)

An original early 17th century copper-engraved miniature map of northern India with Gujarat and the Indus River, bordering Pakistan. Indicates major towns represented by symbols, major rivers, and mountains.
The title "Cambaia" is displayed in an astrapwork cartouche with the further title "Descriptio Cambaiae" in the upper margin.
A crisp dark impression on robust hand-laid paper with Latin text to the verso. A handsome map enhanced with expertly crafted later hand colouring.
The origins of the miniature pocket atlas lie in Barent Langenes Caert Thresoor of 1598. A large number of the 169 maps were engraved by Petrus Kaerius (Van Den Keere). This small but attractive atlas was sold for the first time in 1599 by Cornelis Claesz in Amsterdam. In 1600, Claesz published theatlas with a Latin text composed by Petrus Bertius; from then on, new editions, often enlarged with new maps, regularly appeared. Petrus Bertius was born at Beveren, Flanders, in November 1565. As a refugee, Bertius settled in Amsterdam, and, after finishing his studies, he became a professor of mathematics and librarian at the University of Leiden. In 1618 he also became cosmographer and historiographer to Louis XIII of France and lived in Paris, where he died in October 1629. His fame among geographers was established by his text in the Pocket Atlas Tabularum Geographicarum.

Petrus Bertius (1565–1629)
He was a Flemish philosopher, theologian, historian, geographer, and cartographer. Bertius published much in mathematics and historical and theological works, but he is now best known as a cartographer with his edition of the Geographia of Ptolemy and for its atlas.

---

Provenance : Collection of a Gentleman