Rare Old Map of the Guinea Coast, West Africa by Hondius, 1610: Senegal & Gambia rivers; São Tomé inset; Portuguese trade
Restored in our London workshop from the original 1610 map and printed to museum-grade archival standards. Full description
The Collector’s Offer
Choose two eligible works and receive 20% off both. Choose three and the lowest-priced one is complimentary, a maximum saving of 33%.
Mix and match eligible standard maps and fine-art prints. No code is required; the offer is applied automatically at checkout.
Standard made-to-order configurations are included. Bespoke sizes, personalised designs and commissioned work are excluded.
Need delivery to different addresses? Contact us before ordering.The Collector’s Offer
Choose two eligible works and receive 20% off both. Choose three and the lowest-priced one is complimentary, a maximum saving of 33%.
Mix and match eligible standard maps and fine-art prints. No code is required; the offer is applied automatically at checkout.
Standard made-to-order configurations are included. Bespoke sizes, personalised designs and commissioned work are excluded.
Need delivery to different addresses? Contact us before ordering.
Restored in London • Printed and framed in the EU
Restored from the original 1610 map and printed to museum-grade archival standards. Full description
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Gift message & custom finish
If you want to add a gift message, or a finish (jigsaw, aluminium board, etc.) that is not available here, please request it in the "order note" when you check out.
Every order is custom made, so if you need the size adjusted slightly, or printed on an unusual material, just let us know. We've done thousands of custom orders over the years, so there's (almost) nothing we can't manage.
You can also contact us before you order, if you prefer!
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Guineae Nova Descriptio, engraved by Jodocus Hondius in 1610, presents an elegant, information-rich portrait of the West African littoral from the Rio...
Continue readingGuineae Nova Descriptio, engraved by Jodocus Hondius in 1610, presents an elegant, information-rich portrait of the West African littoral from the Rio Senego to Cape Lopez. Here the seaboard of Guinea and parts of Benin unfold in meticulous detail, while the interior bears period nomenclature such as “Lybia,” echoing classical geography. Hondius charts the long arc from the Senegal and Gambia Rivers past Sierra Leone and into the Gulf of Guinea, culminating in the islands of Fernando Po and São Tomé—one of which, St. Thomas, receives a dedicated inset. Issued as one of six new African maps for Hondius’s first edition of Mercator’s Atlas, it captures a pivotal horizon where exploration, commerce, and imperial rivalry converged.
Hondius, the master engraver who revitalized Mercator’s legacy, distilled the best available intelligence from Portuguese exploration into a lucid coastal schema prized by Northern European audiences. The map records key river mouths and anchorages that structured West African trade—gold, ivory, spices, and, tragically, enslaved people—while acknowledging the early seventeenth-century reality of Portuguese primacy. The Senegal and Gambia systems appear as arterial gateways to interior markets, their deltas and bends carefully traced. Southward, the coastline’s capes and bights articulate an itinerary that merchants and mariners would have recognized, even as Dutch and English competition pressed against Lusitanian monopolies along the Guinea shore.
A consummate stylist, Hondius frames his intelligence with theater. A lavish cartouche emblazoned Guineae Nova Descriptio announces the subject with sculptural flourish, while sailing ships enliven the Atlantic, signaling both maritime prowess and contested sea-lanes. Mountains rise pictorially, rivers meander in fine, calligraphic lines, and coastal names are arrayed with disciplined clarity. The composition privileges the littoral—where commerce met current—while allowing the interior to breathe with emblematic relief and historical toponyms. Ornamental tracery, precise lettering, and balanced negative space typify Hondius’s ability to reconcile aesthetic bravura with cartographic legibility, yielding a sheet as evocative as it is authoritative.
Historically, the map stands at the cusp of transformation. It memorializes Portuguese maritime hegemony along the West African coast just as Dutch and English challenges intensified, a prelude to shifting monopolies and fortified factories that would reorder Atlantic exchange. The marked ports and river thresholds read as a ledger of opportunity and control, articulating the routes by which metals, ivory, and spices circulated—and by which the inhuman traffic of the slave trade was forced seaward. In this sense, Hondius offers both a geographical inventory and a political diagram, charting the interface where European ambition intersected with African polities and landscapes.
The inset of St. Thomas (São Tomé) is a telling accent, reflecting the island’s strategic role as a transshipment node in the Gulf of Guinea network and the Portuguese commitment to charting it closely. By isolating the island at a larger scale, Hondius underscores its navigational and commercial importance relative to the mainland corridor from Senegal to Cape Lopez. Together with the clearly labeled rivers, promontories, and islands—Fernando Po and São Príncipe among them—the inset weaves local precision into a grand coastal narrative. Ships under full sail complete the tableau, projecting an age when cartography served as both scientific instrument and emblem of imperial reach.
Countries and regions on this map
- Guinea
- Parts of Benin
- Lybia
- West African Coast
- Senegal
- Sierra Leone
- Fernando Po
- São Tomé
- São Príncipe
Notable Features & Landmarks
- Inset detailing St. Thomas (São Tomé)
- Elaborate decorative cartouche titled "Guineae Nova Descriptio"
- Sailing ships indicating maritime activity
- Ornamental designs surrounding the map
- Senegal River labeled
- Gambia River labeled
- Mountain ranges labeled
- Coastal areas explicitly labeled
- Noteworthy ports and trading posts marked
Historical and design context
- Created by Jodocus Hondius in 1610
- One of six new Africa maps in Hondius’ first edition of Mercator’s Atlas
- Extends from Rio Senego (Senegal) to Cape Lopez
- Reflects Portuguese influence and early-17th-century dominance amid rising Dutch and English competition
- Documents river systems and ports tied to trade in gold, ivory, spices, and the slave trade
- Highlights the strategic role of São Tomé and Príncipe as transshipment points
- Characterized by ornate embellishments typical of Hondius’ style
- Records Portuguese maritime hegemony and offers a glimpse into early 17th-century cartography and trade routes
- Notes Portuguese exploration and the establishment of key trading posts in the late 15th and early 16th centuries
Looking for a particular place? Review the detailed images to confirm that the town, landmark or feature you have in mind appears on the map. If you are unsure, ask our workshop to check before you order.
Detailed maps are especially rewarding at larger sizes, where names, boundaries and decorative features have more room to be appreciated. Use the close-up preview and size guide to choose the right scale for your wall.
This map looks amazing at sizes all the way up to 90in (230cm). If you are looking for a larger map, please get in touch.
The model in the listing images is holding the 18x24in (45x60cm) version of this map.
Where personalisation is available, you can add a short title or dedication, mark one meaningful place, or request one considered visual detail. See personalised map examples.
Every piece is printed to museum-grade archival standards using fade-resistant pigment inks on acid-free matte paper. Choose an unframed map print, framed map or canvas using the finish options above. Framed maps use crystal-clear optical acrylic and arrive ready to hang.
With its rich detail and strong sense of place, this map makes a considered gift for a new home, anniversary, retirement or anyone with a personal connection to the area shown. Still deciding? Explore our collection of rare old and vintage maps to discover another place, period or style.
This map is also available as a float framed canvas, sometimes known as a shadow gap framed canvas or canvas floater. The map is printed on artist's cotton canvas and then stretched over a handmade box frame. We then "float" the canvas inside a wooden frame, which is available in a range of colours (black, dark brown, oak, antique gold and white). This is a wonderful way to present a map without glazing in front. See some examples of float framed canvas maps and explore the differences between my different finishes.
For something truly unique, this map is also available in "Unique 3D", our trademarked process that dramatically transforms the map so that it has a wonderful sense of depth. We combine the original map with detailed topography and elevation data, so that mountains and the terrain really "pop". For more info and examples of 3D maps, check my Unique 3D page.
Guineae Nova Descriptio, engraved by Jodocus Hondius in 1610, presents an elegant, information-rich portrait of the West African littoral from the Rio Senego to Cape Lopez. Here the seaboard of Guinea and parts of Benin unfold in meticulous detail, while the interior bears period nomenclature such as “Lybia,” echoing classical geography. Hondius charts the long arc from the Senegal and Gambia Rivers past Sierra Leone and into the Gulf of Guinea, culminating in the islands of Fernando Po and São Tomé—one of which, St. Thomas, receives a dedicated inset. Issued as one of six new African maps for Hondius’s first edition of Mercator’s Atlas, it captures a pivotal horizon where exploration, commerce, and imperial rivalry converged.
Hondius, the master engraver who revitalized Mercator’s legacy, distilled the best available intelligence from Portuguese exploration into a lucid coastal schema prized by Northern European audiences. The map records key river mouths and anchorages that structured West African trade—gold, ivory, spices, and, tragically, enslaved people—while acknowledging the early seventeenth-century reality of Portuguese primacy. The Senegal and Gambia systems appear as arterial gateways to interior markets, their deltas and bends carefully traced. Southward, the coastline’s capes and bights articulate an itinerary that merchants and mariners would have recognized, even as Dutch and English competition pressed against Lusitanian monopolies along the Guinea shore.
A consummate stylist, Hondius frames his intelligence with theater. A lavish cartouche emblazoned Guineae Nova Descriptio announces the subject with sculptural flourish, while sailing ships enliven the Atlantic, signaling both maritime prowess and contested sea-lanes. Mountains rise pictorially, rivers meander in fine, calligraphic lines, and coastal names are arrayed with disciplined clarity. The composition privileges the littoral—where commerce met current—while allowing the interior to breathe with emblematic relief and historical toponyms. Ornamental tracery, precise lettering, and balanced negative space typify Hondius’s ability to reconcile aesthetic bravura with cartographic legibility, yielding a sheet as evocative as it is authoritative.
Historically, the map stands at the cusp of transformation. It memorializes Portuguese maritime hegemony along the West African coast just as Dutch and English challenges intensified, a prelude to shifting monopolies and fortified factories that would reorder Atlantic exchange. The marked ports and river thresholds read as a ledger of opportunity and control, articulating the routes by which metals, ivory, and spices circulated—and by which the inhuman traffic of the slave trade was forced seaward. In this sense, Hondius offers both a geographical inventory and a political diagram, charting the interface where European ambition intersected with African polities and landscapes.
The inset of St. Thomas (São Tomé) is a telling accent, reflecting the island’s strategic role as a transshipment node in the Gulf of Guinea network and the Portuguese commitment to charting it closely. By isolating the island at a larger scale, Hondius underscores its navigational and commercial importance relative to the mainland corridor from Senegal to Cape Lopez. Together with the clearly labeled rivers, promontories, and islands—Fernando Po and São Príncipe among them—the inset weaves local precision into a grand coastal narrative. Ships under full sail complete the tableau, projecting an age when cartography served as both scientific instrument and emblem of imperial reach.
Countries and regions on this map
- Guinea
- Parts of Benin
- Lybia
- West African Coast
- Senegal
- Sierra Leone
- Fernando Po
- São Tomé
- São Príncipe
Notable Features & Landmarks
- Inset detailing St. Thomas (São Tomé)
- Elaborate decorative cartouche titled "Guineae Nova Descriptio"
- Sailing ships indicating maritime activity
- Ornamental designs surrounding the map
- Senegal River labeled
- Gambia River labeled
- Mountain ranges labeled
- Coastal areas explicitly labeled
- Noteworthy ports and trading posts marked
Historical and design context
- Created by Jodocus Hondius in 1610
- One of six new Africa maps in Hondius’ first edition of Mercator’s Atlas
- Extends from Rio Senego (Senegal) to Cape Lopez
- Reflects Portuguese influence and early-17th-century dominance amid rising Dutch and English competition
- Documents river systems and ports tied to trade in gold, ivory, spices, and the slave trade
- Highlights the strategic role of São Tomé and Príncipe as transshipment points
- Characterized by ornate embellishments typical of Hondius’ style
- Records Portuguese maritime hegemony and offers a glimpse into early 17th-century cartography and trade routes
- Notes Portuguese exploration and the establishment of key trading posts in the late 15th and early 16th centuries
Looking for a particular place? Review the detailed images to confirm that the town, landmark or feature you have in mind appears on the map. If you are unsure, ask our workshop to check before you order.
Detailed maps are especially rewarding at larger sizes, where names, boundaries and decorative features have more room to be appreciated. Use the close-up preview and size guide to choose the right scale for your wall.
This map looks amazing at sizes all the way up to 90in (230cm). If you are looking for a larger map, please get in touch.
The model in the listing images is holding the 18x24in (45x60cm) version of this map.
Where personalisation is available, you can add a short title or dedication, mark one meaningful place, or request one considered visual detail. See personalised map examples.
Every piece is printed to museum-grade archival standards using fade-resistant pigment inks on acid-free matte paper. Choose an unframed map print, framed map or canvas using the finish options above. Framed maps use crystal-clear optical acrylic and arrive ready to hang.
With its rich detail and strong sense of place, this map makes a considered gift for a new home, anniversary, retirement or anyone with a personal connection to the area shown. Still deciding? Explore our collection of rare old and vintage maps to discover another place, period or style.
This map is also available as a float framed canvas, sometimes known as a shadow gap framed canvas or canvas floater. The map is printed on artist's cotton canvas and then stretched over a handmade box frame. We then "float" the canvas inside a wooden frame, which is available in a range of colours (black, dark brown, oak, antique gold and white). This is a wonderful way to present a map without glazing in front. See some examples of float framed canvas maps and explore the differences between my different finishes.
For something truly unique, this map is also available in "Unique 3D", our trademarked process that dramatically transforms the map so that it has a wonderful sense of depth. We combine the original map with detailed topography and elevation data, so that mountains and the terrain really "pop". For more info and examples of 3D maps, check my Unique 3D page.
Many of our maps and art prints are chosen as thoughtful gifts for homes, offices, studies and meaningful places.
Choose a framed option for the easiest ready-to-hang gift, or choose an unframed print if the recipient may prefer to select their own frame.
We make orders locally in 24 countries around the world, so gifts can often be produced close to the recipient. This helps them arrive faster, travel more safely, and avoid customs or import duty surprises.
- We can deliver directly to the recipient
- Framed pieces arrive ready to hang
- Unframed prints are carefully packed in a strong protective tube
- Almost every order is made locally, for faster, safer gifting
- 90-day returns give the recipient time to decide
If you are not sure what to choose, please contact us. We can help you pick the right map, size, finish or delivery option.
Most orders are made locally and delivered in around 2–3 working days, depending on the product, size and destination.
We print and frame maps and artwork in 24 countries around the world, so your order is usually made close to you or your recipient. That means faster delivery, less time in transit, and no customs or import duty surprises.
Personalised and customised pieces usually take an extra 1–2 working days, because we prepare your design and send it to you for approval before printing.
Very large framed orders can take a little longer, as they need extra care in production and delivery.
Every order is carefully packaged: unframed prints are sent in a strong protective tube, while framed pieces are securely packed with protective materials around the frame.
If you need your order by a particular date, please contact us before ordering. We’ll check the best production route and delivery option for your location.
Express delivery is available at checkout for most countries. Next-day delivery is available in the UK, US, Singapore and the UAE.
Your order is covered by our 90-day returns policy and 10-year guarantee.
Our standard frame is a gallery-style black ash hardwood frame, with a simple, modern look. It is approximately 20mm (0.8in) wide. You can also view some lovely customer photos of framed maps and art.
We use super-clear acrylic glazing, also known as Perspex or Acrylite, instead of traditional glass. It is lighter, safer, and has lower reflectivity, giving the artwork a clearer, cleaner appearance.
Six standard frame colours are available at no extra cost: black, dark brown, dark grey, oak, white, and antique gold. Custom framing and mounting/matting is also available for customers looking for something more specific.
Most maps, art prints, and illustrations are also available as a framed canvas. We use matte cotton canvas, stretch it over a sustainably sourced wooden box frame, and then float the piece within a wooden outer frame. The finished result is beautifully presented, with no glazing between you and the artwork.
All frames are supplied ready to hang, with either string or brackets fitted to the back. Very large frames will include heavy-duty hanging plates and/or a mounting baton. If you have any questions, please get in touch.
We can also supply old maps and artwork on canvas, foam board, cotton rag, and other materials.
If you would prefer to frame your map or artwork yourself, please read our size guide before ordering.
We work with interior designers, hospitality businesses, property professionals, offices and corporate buyers on individual pieces and larger coordinated projects.
This map can be adapted for a particular wall, room or project, and our workshop can help coordinate the dimensions, material and framing before production.
- Exact, oversized and made-to-measure dimensions
- Custom framing, mounting and alternative materials
- Coordinated pieces for several rooms or locations
- Map personalisation, to mark important locations or add extra details
- Map and framing guidance from our workshop
- Local production for projects around the world
Every Unique Maps piece begins with an authentic cartographic source or an original design from our London studio.
For our historic maps, we source rare originals from libraries, archives, auction houses and private collections around the world. We carefully restore each map for print—repairing age-related damage, balancing colour and improving clarity while preserving its original detail, texture and character.
Once restored, the map is prepared for your chosen size and finish. Your piece is then printed and, where selected, framed close to its delivery destination.
Our map prints use acid-free 200gsm archival matte paper and fade-resistant pigment inks, creating a rich, non-glossy finish designed to last. Framed maps use crystal-clear optical acrylic and arrive ready to hang.
Canvas, cotton-rag and other specialist presentations are also available. Learn more about our materials and finishes.
Personalising your map
You can add a short title or dedication, mark one meaningful place, or request one considered visual detail. For personalised designs, we send a proof before printing and you can request changes before approval.
For more complex bespoke commissions, contact our design team.
Original or Aged
Choose Original for true-to-source colour, or Aged for a warmer, richer antique character created with our specialist ageing process. See examples of our Aged maps.
We’ve been restoring and producing maps and art prints since 1984, and we stand behind every piece.
Every order is covered by our 10-year guarantee and damage-free delivery guarantee. If your piece arrives damaged, we’ll replace or remake it free of charge. If anything else isn’t right, contact our workshop team and we’ll put it right promptly.
See our returns and refund policy for full details.
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