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A beautifully engraved map of Wigtownshire and western Galloway, based on the work of Timothy Pont and engraved by Joan Blaeu for inclusion in the Atlas Novus. The map shows the Sheriffdom of Wigtoun and the Regalitie of Glenluce, with the rugged coastline, river systems, and settlements of southwest Scotland rendered in fine detail. Latin and English titles are given in decorative cartouches, with scale bar and compass rose supported by cherubs.
The map is oriented with north at the top, emphasizing the bay of Glenluce (Sinus Glenluceensis) and the coastal setting. Decorative embellishments include three sailing ships and two compass roses. Many place names, especially inland settlements and estates, derive from Pont’s original late 16th-century surveys, though Blaeu's engraving standardizes and Latinizes many forms.
This was the most detailed and authoritative printed mapping of Scotland available until the 18th century.
Joan, or Johannes, Blaeu (1596-1673) was the son of Willem Janszoon Blaeu. He inherited his father’s meticulous and striking mapmaking style and continued the Blaeu workshop until it burned in 1672. Initially, Joan trained as a lawyer, but he decided to join his father’s business rather than practice.
After his father’s death in 1638, Joan and his brother, Cornelis, took over their father’s shop and Joan took on his work as hydrographer to the Dutch East India Company. Joan brought out many important works, including Nova et Accuratissima Terrarum Orbis Tabula, a world map to commemorate the Peace of Westphalia which brought news of Abel Tasman’s voyages in the Pacific to the attention of Europe. This map was used as a template for the world map set in the floor of the Amsterdam Town Hall, the Groote Burger-Zaal, in 1655.
Joan also modified and greatly expanded his father’s Atlas novus, first published in 1635. All the while, Joan was honing his own atlas. He published the Atlas maior between 1662 and 1672. It is one of the most sought-after atlases by collectors and institutions today due to the attention to the detail, quality, and beauty of the maps. He is also known for his town plans and wall maps of the continents. Joan’s productivity slammed to a halt in 1672, when a fire completely destroyed his workshop and stock. Joan died a year later and is buried in the Westerkerk in Amsterdam.
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