1649 Map of Brazil

Picked up this map for 10$ at a yard sale last year. Trying to figure out more about it. It looks like its in "TOO GOOD" of condition for it to be that old. I can tell you that ive been to this ladies yard sale 3 years in a row and ive never been disappointed, so hopefully it checks out. Enjoy

 

Looks like it was taken out of a 20th century book

 

Theres no folds on it? It would have been a big book

 

Have you looked at it under a loupe? The things I'd look for are if there are any kind of dots in the areas where there's color and text, whether you can see any foxing (brown discoloration), and what kind of paper it is.

If it's older, laid paper, you would see horizontal and vertical darker areas in the paper but without light behind it, it can be hard to see it.

Paper from before the early to mid-1800s can look surprisingly fresh and clean since it was cotton-based. Later paper was usually based on wood pulp, which introduced acid and caused the aging we're used to thinking old paper should look like.

I had a set of botanical bookplates that I knew were from the 1700s and the paper was still rather white.

 

I looked at it under the microscope and there are no dots under the color. The paper has a texture to it and feels soft, almost like construction paper.

 

That sounds possibly promising. You might want to take it to an expert to take a look at it. A museum, an art dealer who sells prints, or possibly an antiquarian bookseller might be able to help.

The prints I mentioned that were from the 1700s also were on soft paper.

 

Searching for "le bresil" "grand mer du nord" brought up some similar maps, at least one held by the Library of Congress.

 

Here it is, a 1719 edition.

https://www.loc.gov/resource/g5400.br000012/

Debora

 

I've got several early maps in my collection. It takes a lot of research to decide that you have an original. A LOT of maps have been reprinted. At first glance this looks way too colorful to be original, a lot of those colors are fugitive. Furthermore it doesn't look like its on laid paper, though you haven't taken it out of the frame yet and you should to be sure. But comparison with known copies indicates it is a reprint.

Here are two early prints (plus the one Debora found). Apparently the plates were printed more than once in later editions, but none of the early printings I found had the people, animals and ships yours has nor the over-the-top colors. Notice they also have folds in the middle, because this map (and most maps you find) were published in books.