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This decorative map of Lancashire was published by Joan Blaeu in Amsterdam circa 1645, as part of the first volume of his Atlas Novus devoted to England and Wales.
The map is framed by rich cartouches and heraldic ornaments. At upper right, a man leans against the title cartouche while tending a flock of diverse farm animals. At upper left appears the royal coat of arms of Charles I, an assertion of royal authority during the chaos of the English Civil War. The Irish Sea, labeled Mare Hibernicum; Anglis The Irish Sea, is animated by sailing vessels.
The engraving captures a dense network of towns, rivers, hills, and ecclesiastical sites, each carefully labeled and engraved with clarity. County boundaries are outlined; hundreds are delineated and named. At lower right, a strapwork scale of miles is flanked by putti in playful poses.
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.
