Allegorical title page by Joan Blaeu, published by Reinier & Josua Ottens. 1725-50.
This title page shows Atlas with a celestial sphere on his shoulders. In the foreground Cybele, "Mother Earth" with a fortified crown on her head and a lion at her feet, Neptune on a terrestrial globe surrounded by instruments of cartography.
The Ottens Family
Joachim Ottens (1663-1719), was a copper-engraver and the founder of the print- and mapsellers’ firm in Amsterdam. In 1710 he became a member of the art- and printsellers guild. After he died in 1719, his widow and the sons continued the business under the name “In de Wereldcaert” (In the world map). On the whole, the Ottens’s financial position was rather weak, and the stock was not very large.
In a notary contract dated 20 October 1726, the partnership between the two brothers, Reinier and Josua, was stipulated. Despite separate shops, the brothers’ partnership continued until the death of Renier in 1750.
After Joshua died in 1765, his widow continued the firm, together with her son, Renier II, until c. 1780.
The firm flourished mainly between 1719 and c. 1750. In that period, they advertised at various times the publication of new maps.
Ottens’s greatest fame comes from the voluminous atlases assembled to order. A small number of these so-called ‘Atlas factice’, splendid copies with gorgeous illumination, have survived. These collector’s copies are known to exist in 2, 6, 8, 11, and even 15 volumes. Ottens also published atlases in one volume, with a varying number of maps, pocket atlases, collections of military plans, and Renard’s atlas de la navigation.
Atlas.
Item Number: 28509 Authenticity Guarantee
Category: Antique maps > Curiosities
Allegorical title page by Reinier & Josua Ottens.
Title: Atlas.
Amstelaedami apud Reinerum et Josuam Ottens.
L. Webbers pinxit. - J. van M[????]khuyse Sculp
Copper engraving, printed on paper.
Map size: 460 x 290mm (18.11 x 11.42 inches).
Sheet size: 500 x 380mm (19.69 x 14.96 inches).
Verso: Blank.
Condition: Original coloured, remargined.
Condition Rating: A.
From: Atlas Major, cum generales omnium Totius Orbis regnorum, ... Amstelodami, Apud Regnerum & Josuam Ottens. [1725-1750]
This title page shows Atlas with a celestial sphere on his shoulders. In the foreground Cybele, "Mother Earth" with a fortified crown on her head and a lion at her feet, Neptune on a terrestrial globe surrounded by instruments of cartography.
The Ottens Family
Joachim Ottens (1663-1719), was a copper-engraver and the founder of the print- and mapsellers’ firm in Amsterdam. In 1710 he became a member of the art- and printsellers guild. After he died in 1719, his widow and the sons continued the business under the name “In de Wereldcaert” (In the world map). On the whole, the Ottens’s financial position was rather weak, and the stock was not very large.
In a notary contract dated 20 October 1726, the partnership between the two brothers, Reinier and Josua, was stipulated. Despite separate shops, the brothers’ partnership continued until the death of Renier in 1750.
After Joshua died in 1765, his widow continued the firm, together with her son, Renier II, until c. 1780.
The firm flourished mainly between 1719 and c. 1750. In that period, they advertised at various times the publication of new maps.
Ottens’s greatest fame comes from the voluminous atlases assembled to order. A small number of these so-called ‘Atlas factice’, splendid copies with gorgeous illumination, have survived. These collector’s copies are known to exist in 2, 6, 8, 11, and even 15 volumes. Ottens also published atlases in one volume, with a varying number of maps, pocket atlases, collections of military plans, and Renard’s atlas de la navigation.