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Attractive regional map of Andalusia, including Sevilla, Cordoba, Granada, Cadiz (referred to as "Cadis or Gades"), Marbella, and Malaga. Tanger (Tangier) and Ceuta are noted south of the Strait of Gibraltar, named in Latin as the Strait of Hercules or Gades, and in Spanish. Gibraltar itself is labeled "Gibraltar, al: Gebal Tarik", using a transliterated version of its Arabic name. This map was published by William Janszoon Blaeu in Amsterdam in the middle of the 17th century.
The map extends from Faro in Portugal to Berja on the coast and inland to Ciudad Real, the Rio Guardiana, and Merida. Includes a decorative compass rose, 4 sailing ships, 2 cartouches, and 2 coats of arms.
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.
