Antique World Map c. 1740 — Delisle, Hemisphere Septentrional

An old world map of the northern half, printed in Amsterdam

The title, set above the planiglobe, says what the sheet is for: Hemisphere Septentrional pour voir plus distinctoment les Terres Arctiques — the northern hemisphere, so that the arctic lands may be seen more distinctly. The map is Guillaume Delisle's; this sheet was printed in Amsterdam by the brothers Reinier and Josua Ottens, whose imprint reads chez R. & I. Ottens, Geog.r. Longitude runs from Ferro, relief is drawn in the hill symbols of the period, the back of the sheet blank.

What the catalogue records

The National Library of Poland records one copper engraving on a sheet of 55 × 64 cm, at a scale of about 1:32,000,000. The date is given as not before 1740, which is why the year here carries the word about rather than a false precision. Delisle's dates are 1675 to 1726, Reinier Ottens's 1698 to 1750, Josua's 1704 to 1765. The call number is ZZK 28 841, and on coloring the record says nothing.

The northern sheet, and its pair

The same library holds the southern half of the pair, Hemisphere Meridional, at the neighboring shelfmark ZZK 28 840, on a sheet of the same size and scale. Hung together they close the globe; hung alone, this one is the arctic half, and the round planiglobe frames almost square.

Your file

How to print

• Print at 300 dpi at the size above and do not let the shop scale the file up.
• Pick the archive whose proportions match your frame, so nothing is cropped or stretched.
• Ask for matte fine-art paper, printed in sRGB with auto-enhancement off.
• Where to print it: print shops near you and checked prices at online labs.

Source and rights

National Library of Poland, call number ZZK 28 841. The library places the sheet in the public domain and allows it to be reproduced, altered and distributed, commercially too. Archive and shelfmark are named in the passport inside each ZIP. Catalogue record: Polona →

Questions