Tartaria

• Main Author: Hondius, Jodocus, 1563-1612
• Other Authors: Barentsz, Willem, ca. 1550-1597, University of Washington Libraries. Special Collections Division.
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: Latin
• Published: Hondius, Hendrik 1597-1651 1630
• Subjects: China-Maps-Early works to 1800.; Siberia (Russia)-Maps-Early works to 1800.; Russia-Maps-Early works to 1800.; Armenia-Maps-Early works to 1800.; Korea-Maps-Early works to 1800; Arctic; Arctic Ocean; Bering Strait; Hordern; Lion's Head; Satis; Suo; Northeast Passage; Novaya Zemlya; samoyed*; Siberia
• Online Access: http://cdm16786.contentdm.oclc.org:80/cdm/ref/collection/maps/id/76

17th century Copper engraving handcolored with watercolor. Outline color. Relief shown pictorially. Printed in lower right corner in cartouche: "Tartaria." Printed in lower left corner in cartouche: "Jodocus Hondius lectori Salutem. In hac Tartariae description omnem adhibuimus diligentiam ut regions nuper ab Anglis vel a Belgis alysve detectae suo quaeq, loco haberentur, quamuis mihi ipsi non satisfecerim quis enim vastum illud et incognitu regnum vere describet at ut possimus dum ut volumes non licet usa, dum melius quoddam." Printed in the Arctic Ocean next to the outline of Novaya Zemlya: "Nova Zembla que lustrari a Guilselmo Barentsono Hollando et alijs anno 1594-95-96 coepit, nomine Illustrysimorum Ordinum Inserioris Germaniae. Sime verd N. Zembla (hoc est terra nova) continens ab ORiente, necne etiamnum incertum est etiamsi quidam satis inconsulte hujus partem Borcalissimam Promonorium Tabin Plinio esse affirment." Printed in center of bottom is a scale showing that 1 15/16 in. is equal to 105 "Millaria Germanica communia." Printed on verso is a description of Tartaria labeled as pages 368 and 369: "Tartaria Sive Magni Chami Imperium. Regnum amplissimum est Tartaria, seu ut existimat…" Written in pencil in lower right corner: "Mercator-Hondius 1635." Shows Russia including Siberia as "Tartaria" and western Russia as "Moscovia." Also labels Armenia, "Servan," "Bactriana," China as "Chinae Regni Pars," Korea as "Corea Ins.," part of eastern Europe and part of western North America. Shows the Bering Strait as "Anian Fretum" or the Strait of Anian. The Great Wall of China is depicted with the following note in Latin: "Murus quadringentarum Lecuarum inter montium crepidines a Rege Chinae contra irruptiones Tartarorum extructus." Of note, Korea is shown as an island rather than a peninsula. Japan is not shown. The discovery of Novaya Zemlya is shown based on the explorations of Willem Barentsz. Includes symbols for cities, mountains, and forests. A Tartar man with a Samoyedic man is depicted in the lower left cormer. A tent scene with two Tartars and animals is just above the center of the map. Surrounding the title cartouche is a decorative border with a lion's head, two rams' heads, two snakes and fruits. Scale ca. 1:15,500,000. Throughout the seventeenth century, Flemish mapmakers became highly influential in the field of cartography and social conceptions of world geography. The Amsterdam-based Hondius family was no exception to this rule. Both Jodocus Hondius, Sr. (1563-1612) and his two sons, Jodocus Hondius, Jr. (1594-1629) and Hendrik Hondius (1597-1651) as well Senior's son-in-law, Jan Jansson (1588-1664), created and published maps that led to a highly successful world atlas based on the work of Gerardus Mercator (1512-1594). In 1604, Jodocus Hondius, Sr. purchased map plates made by Mercator and two years later, he published a new edition of Mercator's "Atlas" with 36 of his own maps and called himself the work's publisher. Following his death, Hendrik continued publication of the "Atlas," using the original engraving plates from his father. He worked in collaboration with his brother-in-law, Jan Jansson, to continue publication of the work. Hendrik added to the atlas using map plates his brother, Jodocus Hondius, Jr., created following his brother's death in 1629. In 1638, Hendrik and Jan changed the title of the Atlas to "Atlas Novus" and began using their names on the publication of the maps. Following Hendrik's death, Jansson continued publishing the atlas and adding to its content until there were 10 volumes plus an extra volume in the 1650s-1660s. Publication of this atlas finished in 1708 (Burden, 235-237; Pierluigi and Knirsch, 162-3; Wagner, 310). This map was first published in 1630 in the Hondius-Mercator Atlas as pages 368 and 369 (Koeman, 342). Willem Barentsz was a Dutch Arctic explorer. He made three voyages searching for a Northeast Passage from 1595-1597. He sailed northeast as far as the west coast of Novaya Zemlya and sailed north following its coastline. On his third voyage, he was forced to stop with his crew on the northeast coast of Novaya Zemlya and died of illness in 1597 (Howgego, 85-6). Source(s): Howgego, Raymond John. "Encyclopedia of Exploration to 1800: A Comprehensive Reference Guide to the History and Literature of Exploration, Travel, and Colonization from the Earliest Times to the Year 1800." Potts Point, Australia: Hordern House, 2003. Koeman, Cornelius, ed. "Alantes Neerlandici: Bibliography of Terrestrial, Maritime, and Celestial Books, Atlases and Pilot Books Published in the Netherlands up to 1880. Volume 2." Amsterdam: Theatrum Orbis Terrarum Ltd., 1970. Moreland, Carl and David Bannister. "Antique Maps: A Collector's Handbook." New York: Longman Group, Ltd., 1983. Tooley, Ronald Vere. "Tooley's Dictionary of Mapmakers." Hertfordshire: Map Collector Publications Limited, 1979. Wagner, Henry R. "The Cartography of the Northwest Coast of America to the year 1800 Volume 2." Berkeley: University of California Press, 1937.