A Mysterious Cosmographical Map attributed to Nicolaes van Geelkercken. A Note on Historical Celestial Maps, Facsimiles and Fakes

This paper discusses a unique Dutch cosmographical map in the National Library of Australia in Canberra. It is attributed to the Dutch surveyor and cartographer Nicolaes van Geelkercken (1585/86-1656), i.e., apparently dating from the early 17th century. However, there are indications that the map was made by a relatively modern printing technique such as offset printing or photoengraving. It is shown that the map is a composition of the original van Geelkercken world map and of star maps from the French version of the Atlas Coelestis by the British astronomer John Flamsteed (1645-1719).