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Fine old color example of the rare Peter Schenk edition of Blaeu's map of Venezuela and the Northeastern part of South America.
Includes 2 decorative cartouches, vignettes of various indigenous animals, a compass rose and rhumb lines, etc.
Peter Schenk the Elder (1660-1711) moved to Amsterdam in 1675 and began to learn the art of mezzotint. In 1694 he bought some of the copperplate stock of the mapmaker Johannes Janssonius, which allowed him to specialize in the engraving and printing of maps and prints. He split his time between his Amsterdam shop and Leipzig and also sold a considerable volume of materials to London.
Peter Schenk the Elder had three sons. Peter the Younger carried on his father’s business in Leipzig while the other two, Leonard and Jan, worked in Amsterdam. Leonard engraved several maps and also carried on his father’s relationship with engraving plates for the Amsterdam edition of the Histoire de l'Académie Royale des Sciences.
Willem Janszoon Blaeu (1571-1638) was a prominent Dutch geographer and publisher. Born the son of a herring merchant, Blaeu chose not fish but mathematics and astronomy for his focus. He studied with the famous Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe, with whom he honed his instrument and globe making skills. Blaeu set up shop in Amsterdam, where he sold instruments and globes, published maps, and edited the works of intellectuals like Descartes and Hugo Grotius. 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 joined his father’s business rather than practice. 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.
![A Geographical Chart: or, A Scheme, Comprehending The Most Important Particulars Relative To The Geography of North and South-America. : Designed to be an Auxiliary to the Student. Carefully Compiled from the Best authorities, by Amos Bingham [Copy-Right Secured]](https://storage.googleapis.com/raremaps/img/small/41406.jpg)
![(South America) ФИЗИЧЕСКАЯ КАРТА ЮЖНОЙ АМЕРИКИ. [Physical Map of South America]](https://storage.googleapis.com/raremaps/img/small/90260.jpg)
