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1640 Willem Janszoon Blaeu
$ 750.00
Description

An attractive map of the region bounded by Pakistan, Afganistan and Bangladesh and extenind inland up the Ganges and Indus Rivers to Tartary and the Himalayas, including Katmandu, Kabul and other legendary cities along the great trading routes. Extends south to include a large portion of India, including Narsinga, Orixa Decan, etc. A marvelous map. Minor repaired marginal tear and some minor paper reinforcement on the lower centerfold, but again confined to the margins. Elephants shown roamin the Ganges and Camels east of Kabul. Decorative cartouches and sailing ships.

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.