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Theatrum Orbis Terrarum sive Atlas Novus. Vol. IV: England and Wales

by The Blaeu Family - 1645

This Page is provided as a REFERENCE RESOURCE - it is NOT an Inventory.

POSTAPRINT supplied picture framers and antiquarian map & print dealers for over over a quarter of a century. Examples of the cartographer's art from the 16th to the 19th century, along with engravings, lithographs and etchings by leading artists of their generation. Historical maps, views, and engravings on virtually every subject, including Vanity Fair (Spy) Cartoons. Postaprint also supplied antique prints and maps to Art Galleries, Shops and Fine Art Retailers.

Although I have now retired and the Postaprint Website & ordering facilities are no longer available, these Reference Pages are being left in place. We do hope you will find them to be helpful and informative. They cover many of the pictures and maps we had the pleasure of dealing in over so many years.
A full index of all such pages will be found HERE.

My wife does have an eBay Store, JULIE'S ANTIQUE PRINTS, with a nice range of antique prints, engravings, maps and books.

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Some Interesting Information about the Blaeu Family

WILLEM JANZOON BLAEU (1571-1638) was born in Alkmaar, Holland. He moved to Amsterdam prior to his son Joan's birth in 1596 and set up the family business (founded 1599), which, at first, constructed globes and instruments.

Later it expanded to producing topographical works, maps, town plans and sea charts as well as continuing to make instruments and globes. They were based in Amsterdam (Holland) and they also published maps engraved by Pieter Van Den Keere and Hondius (both Dutch engravers who engraved maps by JOHN SPEED.) The Blaeu Family published numerous marine atlases, which are extremely rare nowadays. They are considered to be one of the best known publishers and compilers of sea charts. Although they were noted mainly for their land atlases, they were also important in the publishing of their pilot books and sea maps. This went quite a way to meeting the demand of the time for navigation aids in the Mediterranean and European waters.

Pieter Van Den keere's Miniature Speed Maps were also published by Blaeu; beforehand these maps were only issued in proof form.

The work produced was of a high decorative standard, it was published in different languages, (mainly Dutch, Latin, Spanish, German and French.) They were one of the few workshops to be considered to have the latest geographical knowledge because Amsterdam, at the time, was considered to be the cartographic centre of the world surpassing Antwerp. Most of the maps produced by Blaeu were based on Saxton and Speed.

His earliest notable work was a map of Holland (1604), he followed this up with further exquisite maps of the world and of the sea with reference to navigation. He was appointed official hydrographer for the East India Company in approximately 1635, about the same time that he published his major project of an atlas of the world. This atlas was intended to include an uhttp://www.antiquemapsandprints.com/p-to-date and comprehensive collection of maps of the known world. This project was started almost thirty years earlier and proved to be more vast than he had originally thought. In the end he purchased 30-40 plates from Jodacus Hondius in order to complete the collection.

Willem Janzoon Blaeu is sometimes confused with a rival of his named Jan Jansson (ie: Johan Janssonius). This was mainly because prior to 1619, Willem signed his work Guilielmus Janssonius or Willems Jans Zoon. He later seemed to have settled on Guilielmus or G. Blaeu. The maps produced by Jansson were very similar to those published by Blaeu, however, although they were often copied from Blaeu's maps, they did tend to be more lavish.

JOAN (JOHN) BLAEU (1596-1673) was born and died in Amsterdam and shared his father's passion for this work. After his father died in 1638, Joan and Cornelius together continued to expand on their father's ambitions for the business until Cornelius died six years after his father. Joan continued to direct the work alone.

He produced a whole series of 6 volumes of maps (1655), which completed the work that his father had begun. Next there was to be an even larger project which resulted in the production of the 'Atlas Maior'. This extended to 11 volumes (later editions ranged from 9-12 volumes), the first publication being in 1662. This work contained 3,000 pages of text and double-page maps totalling almost 600.

This was and is still the most extraordinary work within this category ever produced. Although the work was not as uhttp://www.antiquemapsandprints.com/p-to-date as Blaeu would have liked; the engraving was exquisite as was the calligraphy, colouring, heraldic detail, pictorial work and the intricate cartouches, which all amounted to the appeal of this work. In fact it is argued that some of the maps produced by Joan were considered to be the finest published anywhere in the seventeenth century.

Disaster struck in 1672 when Blaeu's printing house in Gravenstraat was destroyed by fire a year before he died. The maps and plates that remained were dispersed gradually.

CORNELIUS BLAEU (1610-1648) was the younger son of the family and little is known about the work that he produced except that his imprint is shown on maps from 1638, 1642-1644.

SOME EXAMPLES OF THE MAPS.
Click any underlined text to view the scanned image.

ASIA CONTINENT: Coloured.VERY DECORATIVE.(Framed) 'Asia Noviter Delinieata'. If preferred, the map and be removed from the frame to save on shipping costs.
AUSTRIA Saltzburg: MERCATOR. Coloured. Saltzburg Archiepiscopatus et Carintia Ducatus

The following scans are from the First Edition of Volume IV. England and Wales County Maps.

DORSET
DEVON Scale.
I.O.WIGHT. Ships. Coat of arms.
BERKSHIRE
MDDX
NORFOLK
LINCS: FENNES. Includes parts of Norfolk. Suffolk. Cambs. Hunts. Northants. The Wash.
HUNTS
DERBYS
LINCS
STAFFS
SHROPS
YORKS.E.Riding: Ship.
LANCS
I.O.MAN: Ships. Legs of Man.
NORTHUMBS: HOLY IS/FARNE.
CHANNEL ISLES
YORKSHIRE
LEICS
HEREFORD
WALES: RADNOR. Ships.
WALES: BRECON. Ships.
WALES: GLAMORGAN. Ships.
WALES: CARDIGAN. Ships.
WALES: MONTGOMERY. Ships.
WALES: GENERAL MAP. Ships.
WILTS: STONEHENGE.

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