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Americas/ Beer Making. HONDIUS, J. [Amsterdam, 1606] America. 14 3 4 x 19 3/4 inches. Fine hand color; fine condition with a bold strike. A superb example of one of the most famous and striking maps of the Americas, containing numerous illustrations of the natural life of the New World, of European and Indian sailing vessels, and of sea monsters. The large scene in the lower left depicts South American Indians engaged in one of the most unusual methods known to produce beer. Women are here seen chewing the tough manioc root and then expectorating it into a large bowl; enzymes in the saliva would activate the fermenting process. Beer is still produced today in largely the same manner by the Jivaro tribe in Ecuador and consumed by them in truly astonishing quantities—literally gallons per day, it has been reported. On the map itself, what is now the northeast United States is distorted in an east-west direction, reflective of how dimly known the area was at the beginning of the 17th century. Hondius has also fully reinstated the Southern Continent to the tip of South America, although he had been aware of Drake's voyage ("Nova Albion" appears here) and had earlier produced maps showing a nascent Tierra del Fuego based on Drake. Burden 150.
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