PITT, Moses (1654-1696). A Map of the North-Pole and the Parts Adioining. Oxford: 1680.

PITT, Moses (1654-1696). A Map of the North-Pole and the Parts Adioining. Oxford: 1680.

First state of one of the most attractive English maps of the North Pole and Arctic regions. 'This decorative map combines the primitive concepts of "Frisland", "Frobisher Strait" as bisecting southern Greenland; and the three-island concept of Arctic Canada introduced by Sanson' (Kershaw). This, the only map prepared by Pitt for The English Atlas, 'is one of the most evocative of the region ever published' (Burden). Pitt, a London bookseller, had an ambitious plan to produce a 12-volume atlas in the Blaeu-Jansson tradition: however, only four volumes were published. Burden II, 525; Kershaw 120.

Double-page engraved map, coloured by a contemporary hand, verso blank, inset with a map of 'Nova Zembla,' an illustration of an Inuit family by a log cabin, a whaling scene and a galleon in the background, coat-of-arms with dedicatory cartouche, 460 x 590mm (plate mark), 529 x 630mm (sheet).

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