Nova totius germaniae descriptio [Willem BLAEU after , c. 1635]

Nova totius germaniae descriptio

Copperplate engraving/etching with beautiful contemporary old hand colouring. on hand laid (verge) paper.
Sheet size: 56 x 45,8 cm. Image size: 49,5 x 39,2 cm.

Source unknown, to be determined.

Made by Willem Janszoon Blaeu after an anonymous artist.

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.

Condition: Good, given age. A few minor spots. A few crinkles upper left. Middle fold reinforced on verso. Original middle fold as issued. General age-related toning and/or occasional minor defects from handling. Please study scan carefully.

Keywords: GERMANY-EUROPE-NETHERLANDS-POLAND-BELGIUM-OLD COLOURED

pco-maps-europe