A very decorative map of Bermuda from the leading mapmaker of the Dutch Golden Age. This map first appeared in Blaeu’s Atlas Appendix, and later in his Theatrum Orbis Terrarum. It is based on Speed’s Bermuda map, A Mapp of the Sommer Ilands, of 1626. We see the island divided into Tribes and further into numbered Shares, a division created when properties were given to shareholders of the Virginia Company, shipwrecked there in 1609. A key at the bottom lists the names of these shareholders. Bracketing the key are, on the left, the seal of the Council of Virginia (the royal council in charge of the affairs of the colony), and on the right, the coat of arms of Bermuda. A figurative cartouche with maritime themes dominates the center of the map.

Latin text on verso.

Ref.: Palmer #7.