WONDERFUL HAND-COLORED ENGRAVING OF ATLAS BY FREDERICK DE WIT, SERVING AS THE FRONTISPIECE FOR HIS MARITIME ATLAS OF 1675

DE WIT, Frederick. Frontispiece of "Atlas" for Zee Karten. [Amsterdam, Frederick De Wit, 1675]. Folio sheet measuring 10-1/2 by 18-1/2 inches, handsomely framed; entire piece measures 19 by 27 inches. $2500.

Magnificent hand-colored engraving of the “Titano” Atlas (with the mountain at his feet and Africa pictured in the eastern hemisphere), used by famed Amsterdam map-maker Frederick De Wit as the frontispiece to his nautical atlas, Zee Karten (1675).

In this frontispiece for Frederick de Wit’s nautical atlas entitled Zee Karten (1675), the “Titano” Atlas is correctly represented in the act of supporting the sky. The legend was subsequently distorted by describing Atlas as carrying the terrestrial world on his shoulders. Herodotus was the first to liken Atlas to Titano, a mountain in Libya, which can be seen in this depiction at Atlas’ feet. De Wit was one of the most prominent and successful 17th-century Dutch engravers and publishers, whose reputation as a maker of fine maps and atlases was unparalleled in his time (see Koeman, 88). Tooley, 36. See Shirley 444.

A wonderful 17th-century image by the famous Amsterdam map-maker.