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Scarce 1680 edition of Richard Blome's map of the Polish Empire, the earliest folio sized map of the region to be engraved in England.
The map was first issued in 1669, with a dedication "To the Right, Worshipfull Sr. Richard Otley of Pichford in Shopsheir Knight," along with his coat of arms, and is dated 1669 at the bottom left corner. A link to the first edition is shown here: /gallery/detail/26304
The second edition was issued in 1680, with a revised dedication and coat of arms, "To the Rt. Worship Full Sr. Robert Clayton of the Citty of London Kt. and Alderamn and Lord Mayr of thee of Anno 1680."
While Speed's atlas was published prior to Blome, the plates were engraved and printed in Amsterdam. The map demonstrates the naïve engraving style characteristic of 17th Century English engravers, and features an elaborate heraldic cartouche and a dedication to Sr. Richard Otley of Pichford, in Shropsheir Knight. Inlcudes an ornate decoration. Blome's maps, because of their rarity and importance in the history of English Cartography, are essential items for regional collectors.
Blome first began engraving maps for his Geographical Description Of The Four Parts Of The World in 1667. The completed volume was in small folio, and contained 24 maps (plus one duplicated), engraved by Francis Lamb, Thomas Burnford and Wenceslas Hollar. Blome's principal handicap in the production of the atlas was the lack of a domestic mapmaking environment comparable with that in Europe. Also, to finance his work, he undertook subscribers, in exchange for a promise to add their coat of arms to certain maps. In later editions, if the renewal fee was not paid,
Blome added a different subscribers coat of arms, leading to multiple images on various editions of the same map. An essential collector's map.
![[ Poland / Lithuania / Kaliningrad ] Das Konigreich Preussenmit den freien Stadten Danzig u Thorn](https://storage.googleapis.com/raremaps/img/small/102639.jpg)
