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Philippe Marie Vandermaelen (1795-1869) was a Belgian cartographer and geographer known for his pioneering use of technology and his leadership in establishing the important Establissement geographique de Bruxelles. Born in Brussels, Philippe was obsessed with maps from a young age. He taught himself mathematics, astronomy, and mapmaking and plotted the battles of the Napoleonic wars avidly. He took over his father’s soapmaking business briefly in 1816, but then turned it over to his brother in favor of cartography.

From 1825 to 1827, he released his first atlas, the Atlas universal, which was well received. It was sold in forty installments of ten maps each, with 810 subscribers listed. The atlas contained 387 maps in six volumes at a uniform scale of 1:1.6 million. The maps were intended to be joined and together would create a globe 7.755 meters wide. It was the first atlas to show the entire world on a large uniform scale and was the first atlas produced using lithography. This project served as Vandermaelen’s gateway into intellectual life, gaining him membership in the Royal Academy of Sciences and Belles-Lettres of Brussels (1829).

In 1830, Vandermaelen inherited a laundry from his parents which he converted into the Establissement geographique de Bruxelles, or the Brussels Geographical Establishment. His brother, Jean-Francois, also established a botanical garden on the site. The Establishment had its own lithographic press, one of the first to use the technology for cartography and the first in Belgium. They produced textbooks, surveys, and especially maps of Brussels to be used for urban planning. The complex also housed schools, an ethnographic museum, and a library open to the public. Vandermaelen was passionate about geographic education and saw the Establishment as an open place where people could learn about the world.

In 1836, he was knighted for his services to geography and the intellectual community of Belgium. He died at age 73 in Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, near the Geographical Establishment that he founded. After Vandermaelen’s death, the Geographical Establishment declined, closing its doors in 1880. The extraordinary collection they had amassed passed to several institutions, most importantly the Royal Library of Belgium.

Place/Date:
Brussels / 1825
Size:
20 x 18 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
14186
Place/Date:
Brussels / 1825
Size:
20 x 18 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
14187
Place/Date:
Brussels / 1825
Size:
20 x 18 inches each
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
19107
Place/Date:
Brussels / 1825
Size:
20 x 18 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
19822
Place/Date:
Brussels / 1825
Size:
20 x 18 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
19824
Place/Date:
Brussels / 1825
Size:
20 x 18 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
1793RB
Place/Date:
Brussels / 1825
Size:
20 x 18 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
40918
Place/Date:
Brussels / 1825
Size:
20 x 18 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
40930
Place/Date:
Brussels / 1827
Size:
22 x 19 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
76117
Place/Date:
Brussels / 1827
Size:
22.5 x 19 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
76173
Place/Date:
Brussels / 1827
Size:
22 x 19 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
76342
Place/Date:
Brussels / 1827
Size:
22 x 19 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
76516
Place/Date:
Brussels / 1827
Size:
22 x 18.5 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
87978
Place/Date:
Brussels / 1827
Size:
20.25 x 18.75 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
88408
Place/Date:
Brussels / 1827
Size:
22.5 x 19 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
89043
Place/Date:
Brussels / 1825
Size:
21.5 x 18 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
96296
Place/Date:
Brussels / 1825
Size:
20 x 18 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
1785RB
Place/Date:
Brussels / 1825
Size:
20 x 18 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
1795RB
Place/Date:
Brussels / 1825
Size:
20 x 18 inches
Condition:
Stock#:
75812
Place/Date:
Brussels / 1827
Size:
22.75 x 18.75 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
76682
Place/Date:
Brussels / 1827
Size:
23 x 19.25 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
78554
Place/Date:
Brussels / 1825
Size:
23 x 19.5 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
87865
Place/Date:
Brussels / 1827
Size:
22.5 x 19 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
88297
Place/Date:
Brussels / 1827
Size:
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Condition:
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88403
Place/Date:
Brussels / 1827
Size:
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Condition:
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Stock#:
88674
Place/Date:
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Size:
23 x 18.3 inches
Condition:
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Stock#:
96401
Place/Date:
Brussels / 1825
Size:
20.5 x 19 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
96675
Place/Date:
Brussels / 1825
Size:
24.5 x 18.5 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
88843
Place/Date:
Brussels / 1825
Size:
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Condition:
VG
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88864
Place/Date:
Brussels / 1825
Size:
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Condition:
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42301
Place/Date:
Brussels / 1825
Size:
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Condition:
VG
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79950
Place/Date:
Brussels / 1827
Size:
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Condition:
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0206gh
Place/Date:
Brussels / 1825
Size:
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Condition:
VG+
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78630
Place/Date:
Brussels / 1825
Size:
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Condition:
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42102
Place/Date:
Brussels / 1825
Size:
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Condition:
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79657
Place/Date:
Brussels / 1825
Size:
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Condition:
VG
Stock#:
96886
Place/Date:
Brussels / 1827
Size:
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Condition:
VG+
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41201

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