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Description

A nice example of the 1642 German edition of Blaeu's map of the Southeast. This map is based on the larger 1606 Mercator-Hondius map. This map covers an area from the mouth of the Chesapeake bay to Georgia. On this map a number of settlements are named, including Jamestown (est 1609) and Newport News (est. 1621). One of the great early obtainable maps. Includes the marvelous mythical lakes in the interior and other conjectural cartography of the time. Large cartouche, 2 coasts of arms, 2 compass roses and several sailing ships. A striking example of this highly desireable map. Burden 253. Cumming 41.

Willem Janszoon Blaeu Biography

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.