Code: 56186
Circa 1660
Copper engraving with fine, original hand colouring. Title in cartouche surmounted by a putto head ; panel containing seven heraldic crests and one blank one down left side surmounted by the royal crest and arms of England surmounted by a crown ; ships in sea and scale of distance surmounted by three putti with surveying instruments. London is to be seen bottom left with London Bridge and with the Norman St Paul's Cathedral, before the Great Fire of 1666 destroyed the building., five sailing ships entering the Thames Estuary, this from a Latin edition reference to the local Celtic tribe of the Trinobantes on the verso. Latin text pp 238-237 Overall sheet size: 59.3cms x 51.3cms; image size: 521mm x 417mm. Overall toning and a darker shade in the Oceanus Germanicus ; remnants of tape bottom centrefold on front and on verso see magnified image else stunning map in good condition.
"As with all productions of the firm of Blaeu, the engraving and layout are all of the highest standard." Rodney Shirley.
Willem Janszoon Blaeu (1571-1638) was a prominent Dutch geographer and publisher. The son of a herring merchant, Blaeu studied mathematics and astronomy . He studied instrument and globe making with the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe. Blaeu set up shop in Amsterdam, where he sold instruments and globes, published maps. In 1635, he released his atlas, Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, sive, Atlas novus.
Willem died in 1638. He had two sons, Cornelis (1610-1648) and Joan (1596-1673). Joan trained as a lawyer, but then joined his father’s business. After his father’s death, the brothers took over their father’s shop and Joan took on his work as hydrographer to the Dutch East India Company. Later in life, Joan would modify and greatly expand his father’s Atlas Novus, eventually releasing his masterpiece, the Atlas Maior, between 1662 and 1672.
