A delightful map of Greenland, Iceland and the North Sea, with guest appearances from the British Isles and Canada (then New France) on the edges of the map. Originally published in 1661 by Dutch master cartographer Johannes van Loon, this is one of the most accurate (and rare) maps of the region. It would've been used by sailors to safely sail across the North Sea to the New World.
You can see that the outline of Greenland and North America is still missing a few bits. But there's a lovely cartouche at the top, with a Norwegian man hunting a walrus and a seal and an indigenous man of Greenland holding a kayak.
Most of the locations on this map, of course, were originally named by the Viking explorers who set out from Scandinavia and the British Isles a few hundred years earlier, and discovered Iceland, Greenland and then the eastern most parts of Canada.
This map looks great at all sizes: 12x16 inches (31x41cm), 18x24 inches (45.5x61cm) and 24x36 inches (61x91.5cm), but it looks even better when printed large.
I can create beautiful, large prints of this map up to 90 inches (228.5cm). Please get in touch if you're looking for larger, customised or different framing options.
The model in the listing images is holding the 20x16 inch (51x40.5cm) version of this map.
If you’re looking for something slightly different, another option would be this amazing map of Iceland by Abraham Ortelius in 1595.
Or this one of the North Sea, also by Ortelius. Both of them contain sea monsters!
The locations on this map include: Greenland, Iceland, Great Britain, the North Atlantic Ocean, Canada, North America, and a few other bits and pieces.
This would make a wonderful birthday, Christmas, Father's Day, work leaving or housewarming gift for someone from Greenland (or perhaps Denmark?) or has the world's biggest island in their heart.
This map is available as a giclée print on acid free archival matte paper, or you can buy it framed. The frame is a nice, simple black frame that suits most aesthetics. Please get in touch if you'd like a different frame colour or material. My frames are glazed with super-clear museum-grade acrylic (perspex/acrylite), which is significantly less reflective than glass, safer, and will always arrive in perfect condition.