BERRY, William (1669-1708). A Mapp of All the World. London: William Berry, 1680.

2 sheets joined, float mounted and framed (22 2/8 x 34 2/8 inches to the neat line). A fine engraved double-hemisphere map of the world with fine original hand-colour in outline, the title boldly printed along the upper edge and with the dedication to Charles II and imprint in a fine cartouche lower centre (one or two discreet marginal repairs).   

THE ENGLISH SANSON  A fine world map showing all but the eastern coast of Australia, the eastern coast of New Zealand.   

William Berry's  "A Mapp of all the World..." is a copy of " the Sanson world map as published by Hubert Jaillot in 1674. Berry has patriotically marked the islands discovered by Drake just off Tierra del Fuego and has added New Albion in the northern part of California, shown as an island ... Berry advertised his two-sheet world map in the "Term Catalogues" for June 1680 and then in the "London Gazette". It was available either in sheet form or to be 'bound in books or pasted on cloath at reasonable rates" (Shirley).  

Chubb describes Berry as a bookseller, geographer, and engraver, who was active between about 1670 and 1703. His most enduring partnership was with map-maker Robert Morden, and together they dealt in topographical works, prints, maps, charts and globes. Berry corrected and amended a set of maps of the World, described by Nicolas Sanson as here, which were issued separately between 1680 and 1689 "as a collection they are known as the English Sanson" and are very rare" (Chubb). 

Very few English mapmakers made a name for themselves in the 16th and 17th centuries. The main reason for this is probably the fact that Dutch cartographers were generally so far ahead of their competition that to challenge them seemed an insurmountable task. William Berry was one exception to this rule, and he produced maps that could compete, with respect to accuracy and beauty, with those of the great mapmakers. A London bookseller and engraver, Berry was established for many years at the company "Sign of the Globe," where he specialized in maps, prints, and geographical works. Among his many geographical publications were "Cosmography and Geography" of 1608--from which this map originates--and "Geography Rectified" of 1688.

This double-hemispheric map of the world was dedicated to Charles II. In the hundred years since Ortelius's Typus Orbis Terrarum, much had been discovered and named in the Americas, and a comparison between the two maps shows the knowledge that had been gained. The definition of the coastlines of the Americas is much more accurate, with the exception that California is here an island (a mistake repeated frequently in the 17th century). The stunning outline color and large format of this map make it an important item for any collector, even more so because it is of English origin.  Shirley 501; Wagner 417.