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Rare Double-Hemisphere highly decorative World Map by Pieter Schenk in spectacular full color with Allegorical Vignettes.

The map shows California as an island, hint of the Northwest Passage, parts of New Zealand, the coast of Australia, and other modern features on maps.

The map is beautifully decorated with depictions of the four elements in each of its four quarters. In the lower right corner, there is a prosperous scene... Rare Double-Hemisphere highly decorative World Map by Pieter Schenk in spectacular full color with Allegorical Vignettes.

The map shows California as an island, hint of the Northwest Passage, parts of New Zealand, the coast of Australia, and other modern features on maps.

The map is beautifully decorated with depictions of the four elements in each of its four quarters. In the lower right corner, there is a prosperous scene depicting a peaceful kingdom of animals that is governed by an Italia turrita, a woman who is wearing a mural crown that symbolizes a benevolent Rome. In the lower left, another female figure rules over a similarly fruitful scene that represents water. There is a fish cornucopia surrounded by river putti, and their mother figure wears a ship's crown and leans on a rudder to show that she rules the sea. The upper left is for Air. The goddesses there seem to be focused on the interesting celestial chart that takes up most of their space, which is a shame because they don't seem to notice that Phaethon is stealing Apollo's chariot (that the well-educated people who read the map would understand what it meant). In the top right corner, which is for fire, there is a hellish landscape ruled by a figure with five breasts and a mural crown, possibly Diana or Artemis of Ephesus. At her feet are two learned men. Between the 16th and 19th centuries, Diana stood for the secrets of nature. Her picture was on the frontispiece of Alexander von Humboldt's 1807 book Ideen zu einer Geographie der Pflanzen nebst ein Naturgemälde der Tropenlander, among other things. Diana of Ephesus is shown in this situation as a teacher who shares what she knows about the world and the universe with students. The man with white hair is turning a crank that is connected to a sphere that is sitting next to Diana's knee. The image is meant to show how the Earth spins. What isn't clear is how the author feels about this scene and what it means. As per the Copernican theory, which said that the earth not only turned, but also moved in a circle around the sun, was still supported by the Catholic Church. The fact that these scholars and Diana were put in the fire-themed area could be seen as a criticism of the theory and those who support it. After all, the chart in the upper left corner shows Tycho Brahe's solar system. Brahe tried to explain Copernicus' observations without coming to the same theologically questionable conclusions.

The map also has two celestial charts that were based on two charts that were printed in Andreas Cellarius' Harmonia Macrocosmica in 1660. Schenk and Gerard Valk would reprint this work in 1708. Both pictures back up the idea of a geocentric universe. On the right, the Earth is shown in a stylized armillary sphere, which is a mathematical tool used to show how the heavenly sphere moves around an Earth that stays still in the middle. On the other hand, the picture on the left shows the solar system based on Tycho Brahe's (1546–1601) model, which tried to balance the geocentric model of the universe by Aristotle with Copernicus' sun-centered model. The Catholic Church favored the Aristotelian model, which said that the Earth was set and unmoving in the center of the universe. However, Brahe's model helped explain how the planets seemed to move around the Sun. There was only one type that was widely used, and that was Brahe's. All in all, the Catholic Church's ban on Copernicus' ideas from 1616 was still in place in 1700.

Petrus Schenk, also known as Pieter Schenck the Elder, was a Dutch engraver, globe maker, and map printer who worked in Amsterdam and Leipzig in the second half of the 17th century. He was born on December 26, 1660 and died in 1711. The German author Schenk was born in Elberfeld. His family went to Amsterdam in 1675, and he became an apprentice to Gerard Valk (Valck). Schenk married Agatha Valk, who was Gerard Valk's sister, in 1687. He then formed a business relationship with his brother-in-law under the name "Valk and Schenk." At first, they only made maps and atlases. In 1694, they bought the map plates of Jan Jansson and Jodocus Hondius. Later, in 1701, they moved into the offices that had been used by Hondius and started making globes there. Valk and Schenk quickly became known for making the best globes in the Netherlands. For almost 50 years, they had almost a monopoly on this business. There were three sons of Schenk. Pieter Schenk the Younger, Jan Schenk, and Leonard Schenk all became engravers on their own. Pieter Schenk the Younger took over his father's shop in Leipzig after he died. His daughter Maria Schenk married Leonard Valk, who was Gerard Valk's son, and he kept running the Amsterdam map printing business Valk and Schenk.

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