Japan & Korea (1658)

An attractive old color first state example of Johannes Janssonius 1658 map of Japan and the surrounding lands, including an exceptional insular Korea. Centered on Japan's largest island, Honshu, this map covers from Sakhalin and Hokkaido south to Kyushu, west past insular Korea to China, and eastwards as far as the Kuril Islands. Rhumb lines fill the seas and two large decorative cartouches frame distance scales and the map's title. There are four decorative sailing ships and, just south of Honshu, a sea monster. Jansson's map is significant on many levels, including its being the first printed map to include cartography from the Maarten de Vries manuscript map, its fascinating rendering of the Kuril Islands, the joining of Hokkaido (Eso) and Sakhalin, and the presentation of Korea as an island.