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March Issue 2007
Gallery C in Raleigh, NC, Offers Exhibit of Cartography
Jodocus Hondius
Gallery C in Raleigh, NC, is presenting an exhibition of rare antique maps and prints featuring European & American cartography of the Southeastern United States from the 17th to the 19th Century, on view through Mar. 27, 2007.
This region of the North American Coast was
well documented by mapmakers from as early as the 1500's. A
long series of exploration and colonization efforts by the Europeans
all shaped the Southeast into what we now know as Virginia,
North Carolina, Georgia and Florida. Mapmakers of the early
periods relied on everything from nautical charts to explorers'
journals, to native American myths in order to piece together
the geography. Information was scarce for regions on the
maps without a lot of settlements but these cartographers
were both scientists and artists. Unexplored geography
was covered up on the maps with large and impressive
cartouches; illustrations of exotic animals and people along with
the names of the regions.
Johann Christoph
Weigel
This exhibition includes one of the earliest
maps of the Southeast (1606) known as the Mercator-Hondius
map of Virginae Item et Floridae by the renowned Dutch cartographer
Jodocus Hondius. This map was used as a basis for a number of
famous 17th Century Dutch maps including another piece in the
show by Willem Blaeu (1640). Other notable pieces include a 1676
map of Carolina by John Speed and a pair of Celestial maps by
Dopelmeyr (1742). Along with these maps are some fine rare
prints from the same time period and maps and prints from
the late 1800's around the time of the Civil War.
Although many of these maps were originally made to be tools of
discovery, today we cannot help but admire them for both their
artistic and historical value. What once was meant to be in an
atlas on a desk is now best presented framed on the wall. Ancient
maps and prints are one of the few places where history, geography,
art and science all come together. Regardless of who you are,
any one of these interests alone should be enough to bring you
in to Gallery C to see this show.
For further information check our NC Commercial
Gallery listings, call the gallery at 919/828-3165 or visit (www.galleryc.net).
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