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Description

Gorgeous full color example of the first state of Blaeu's map of Poland showing the region from the Oder east to Podlachia on the Bug. Also shows parts of Prussia and Brandenberg. A highly decorative map of Poland, including several coats of arms, cherubs and cartouches. From the 1634 German edition of Blaeu's Atlas Novus, the first appearance of this map in Blaeu's atlas. Full wide margins. Very minor soiling at centerfold, but a nice example of the first state of this imporant map of Poland.

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.