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Decorative example of the first edition, first state of Blaeu's map of Scotland, including 2 coats of arms, sailing ships and decorative title cartouche. From the 1634 edition of Blaeu's Atlas Novus. Fine dark impression, with wide clean margins. Minor fold split, just entering printed image.
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.
![(Scotland) Novissima Regni Scotie Septentrionalis et Meridionalis Tabula, Divisae in Ducatus, Comitatus, Vice-Comitatus, Provincias Praefecturas, Dominia et Insulas. Auctore I. Covens et C. Mortier. [The Newest Map of the Northern and Southern Kingdom of Scotland, Divided into Duchies, Counties, Vice-Counties, Provinces, Prefectures, Dominions, and Islands. By J. Covens and C. Mortier.]](https://storage.googleapis.com/raremaps/img/small/93081.jpg)