One of the cornerstones of the mapping of Japan and the prototype of the Blaeu/Martini model. Martini was a Jesuit missionary who travelled in China. He contacted Blaeu upon his return to Europe and the Atlas Sinensis was the result. Though the map does borrow from earlier models, it contains much new material, including the first representation of Korea as a peninsula, rather than an island. Walter 48; Cumming 21; Cortazzi, pl. 63. with--Blaeu. Imperii Sinarum Nova Descriptio. Double-page engraved map, 460x590 mm, margins wide on top and bottom, remargined on sides with some disruption to neat lines; hand-colored in outline; pulled from a worn or scratched plate. Amsterdam, circa 1655.
