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1636 Willem Janszoon Blaeu
$ 675.00
Description

Fine old color example of Blaeu's map of Mexico .

Gorgeous map of Mexico extending from just north of Mazatlan to Acapulco and from Tehuacan to the Sierra Madres, showing Mexico City, Puebla (Angelorum Civitas), Colima, Campostella, Purificatio and Mechoacan as the major cities of the time. A highly ornate decorative map, with fabulous armorial title cartouche, sailing ships, compass rose and smaller cartouche.

An essential map for any collection of maps of Mexico.

Condition Description
Old Color.
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.