Goos, Pieter | The most aesthetically pleasing of the early Dutch sea-atlases

Goos, Pieter

De Zee-Atlas ofte Water-Wereld, waer in vertoont warden alle de Zee-Kusten Van het bekende des Aerd-Bodems. Amsterdam: Pieter Goos, 1666

Folio (333 x 592 mm). Printed title within elaborate engraved allegorical border incorporating vignette, dedication leaf, 16 pages of text in Dutch including index of 41 charts 41 handcolored engraved full-sheet or folding sea and coastal charts, some heightened in gold, all mounted on guards; some scattered and generally unobtrusive spotting, most maps with neat repairs to short splits art the lower folds, a few closed marginal tears neatly repaired, map 10 ("Paskaert Van de Zeeusche en Vlaemsche Kusten...") with closed tear neatly repaired, map 14 ("Paskaarte om Achter Yrlandt...") with smudge to lower margin, map 30 ("Pascaerte van Groen-landt") with small abrasion at lower right with minor loss of color, map 31, 34, and 35 ("Paskaert zijnde de Noordelijckste van America..."; "Paskaerte van de Zuijdt en Noordt Revier in Nieu Nederlant..."; and "Pascaerte van Westindien") with splits to folds at lower margin just entering the map area, each neatly repaired. Contemporary Dutch vellum, decoratively paneled and tooled in gilt, all edges gilt; some minor spotting.

First edition — exquisitely handcolored. 

A stunning atlas, with 41 maps, as called for by Koeman. This copy conforms to Koeman with the exception of map number 39 ("Pascaert van Nova Hispania..."), which is here dated 1666, rather than 1664.

Although Goos was one of the best-known maritime booksellers of Amsterdam, and responsible for publishing a number of different sea-atlases or pilots, his work was very much derivative. For example, in the case of the Zee-Atlas, Goos relied heavily on Hendrick Doncker’s Zee-Atlas, published in 1659, for his charts. Goos’s background was more as an engraver—following on from his father Abraham. Unlike Doncker and his other contemporaries, Pieter Goos’s intention was less to produce a functional sea-atlas, and more to create a visually appealing volume to be consulted in a library environment.

Unlike his rivals, Goos never undertook substantial revision of his Zee-Atlas, either of the text or charts. Indeed, there are only minor differences between editions. Perhaps the most famous chart in the volume is the “Paskaert van Nova Grenada, en t’Eylandt California," one of the two earliest Dutch printed charts to focus on the “island" of California, a famous and long-lived cartographic misconception. Goos’s atlas is the most aesthetically pleasing of the early Dutch sea-atlases. Koeman notes that “The... beautiful sea-atlas reflect[s] a high professional standard. The many editions published over twenty-five years are an indication of the customers’ appreciation."

REFERENCE:

Koeman IV, Goos 1B; National Maritime Museum III.92 & 94